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LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


- 


t^l 


HISTORY  OF 


BIOGRAPHICAL  AND 


COMPRISING 


MEMOIRS  OF  MEMBERS  OF  THE  CONGRESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

DfcAWN   FROM   AUTHENTIC    SOURCES  ; 


rcft-t-ii*-'         A.         it.c      -i-^c        <-  IL  //.i-^ 

EMBRACING    THE    PROMINENT    EVENTS   OF   THEIR   LIVES,  AND    THEIR  CON 
NECTION    WITH    THE    POLITICAL    HISTORY    OF    THE    TIMES. 


BY  HENRY  G.  WHEELER. 


Illustrated  6s  numerous  .Steel  portraits  an*  jFac=sfmfle  0utoflrap|js. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER   &  BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS, 

82    CLIFF   STREET. 

1848. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
PAVJS 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-eight,  by 

HENRY  G.  WHEELER, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


HALL  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  | 


Washington,  January  23,  1847 
DEAR  SIR  : 

The  Joint  Committee  on  the  Library  have  had  under  consideration  your  Pro 
spectus  for  the  publication  of  "  A  BIOGRAPHICAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CONGRESS  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES,"  and  have  authorized  me  to  subscribe  for  two  copies  of  said 
work  for  the  Library  of  Congress. 

Yours  respectfully, 

RICHARD  BRODHEAD, 
Chairman  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  the  Library  of  Congress, 

on  the  part  of  the  House. 
HENRY  G.  WHEELER,  Esq. 


PREFACE. 


JL  HE  wide  and  almost  untrodden  field  of  labor  upon  which 
we  have  entered,  if  not  destitute  of  those  allurements  that 
sometimes  tempt  the  mind  to  trials  beyond  its  strength,  has 
been  surveyed  by  us  in  no  spirit  of  exaggerated  confidence  in 
our  own  powers,  but  with  a  distrust  of  them  so  constant  and 
oppressive  as  almost  to  have  diverted  us  from  our  object.  The 
hope,  faintly  cherished,  that  we  might  accomplish  our  design 
— the  conviction  that  the  pursuits  of  many  years  had  left  re 
sources  and  materials  at  our  command  not  generally  attainable 
— the  mute,  but  fervent  aspiration  of  our  heart  that  it  might 
be  given  to  us  to  rear  a  column  which  the  country  would  not 
disown,  and  on  whose  base,  peradventure,  in  some  lowly  spot, 
our  own  humble  name  might  be  inscribed — these  motives  have 
guided  and  sustained  us  through  embarrassments  and  difficul 
ties  to  whose  accumulated  pressure  we  should  otherwise  have 
yielded. 

We  believe  we  are  the  first  who,  by  a  comprehensive  union 
of  biographical  memoir  with  public  history,  have  attempted  to 
bring  home  to  the  familiar  contemplation  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  the  practical  operation  of  the  institutions  under 
which  they  live ;  to  demonstrate  to  them,  by  the  examples  we 
set  before  their  eyes,  how  much  more  potent  an  instrument  in 
the  civilization  of  nations  is  the  schoolmaster  than  the  warrior 
— the  plowshare  than  the  sword ! 

In  the  attainment  of  this  end,  our  business  has  been  less  with 
men  than  with  facts.  We  have  violated  no  confidences  ;  we 
have  followed  no  man  to  the  sanctuary  of  his  own  habitation. 

in 


iv  PREFACE/ 

We  have  taken  him,  where  we  found  him,  in  the  full  glare  of 
the  public  eye,  on  the  field  of  his  public  duties  and  his  political 
fortunes.  Studiously  rejecting  those  hyperbolical  tributes  of 
praise  which  are  as  offensive  to  good  taste  as  they  are  often 
unmerited  and  insincere,  we  have  believed  that,  in  many  in 
stances,  the  highest  eulogy,  like  the  severest  censure,  was  to  be 
found  in  the  simple  statement  of  a  fact. 

Our  present  labors  have  been  confined,  with  one  important 
exception,  to  that  House  with  whose  business  we  have  been  so 
long  connected ;  "on  whose  mane  we  have  laid  our  hand"  in  all 
the  phases  of  storm  and  sunshine,  and  for  which  we  have  gar 
nered  up,  not  without  cause,  feelings  of  respect  and  affection 
that  must  cling  to  us  while  we  may  be  numbered  among  the 
living. 

Our  future  volumes  will  give  to  the  Senate  a  more  ample 
representation  than  our  arrangements  for  this  have  enabled  us 
to  offer. 

THE    AUTHOR. 

NEW  YORK,  May  1st,  1848. 


CONTENTS. 


f  HOLMES,  ISAAC  EDWARD,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

")  ,  V  Introductory  Remarks — Construction  of  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives — Spirit  of  Party — Anecdotes  illustrating  the  Difficulty  of  hearing  in  the  Hall 
— New  England  Anniversary  Dinner — Anecdote — Birth,  Parentage,  and  early 
History  of  Mr.  Holmes — His  Admittance  to  the  Bar — His  Marriage— Authorship 
;  — The  Story  of  Tom — Insurrection  among  the  Negroes — South  Carolina  Associa 
tion — Law  prohibiting  entrance  of  Free  Persons  of  Color  into  South  Carolina — 
Colored  Cook  taken  from  a  British  Merchantman  and  Imprisoned — Course  of  Mr. 
Holmes — Decision  of  the  Judge — Essays  of  Caroliniensis — The  Tariff — Proposi 
tion  of  Resistance — Course  of  Mr.  Holmes  as  a  practical  Nullifier — Test  Oath  of 
Allegiance  to  the  State — His  Retirement  from  Public  Life — Election  to  Congress 
— Refusal  to  serve  with  Mr.  Adams  on  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs — Letter 
— His  Political  Opinions — Improvement  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  Tributaries — 
River  and  Harbor  Bill — West  Point  Academy — Appointment  of  Lieutenant  Gen 
eral — Annexation  of  Texas — War  with  Mexico — Oregon — Georgia  Memorial — 
The  Playfair  Family Page  9-30 

LAHM,  SAMUEL,  OF  OHIO. 

His  Birth— Parentage — Education — Early  Career — Admission  to  the  Bar — Ap 
pointment  to  Office — Case  of  forged  Certificate  of  Deposit — Election  to  the  State 
Senate — Bartley's  Law — Hards  and  Softs — Election  to  Congress  as  an  independent 
Candidate — Removal  of  the  Seat  of  Government  of  Ohio — Delegate  to  Baltimore 
Convention — Marriage — Personal  Appearance 31-35 

JNGERSOLL,  JOSEPH  REED,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Parentage — Pursuits — Author  of  Translation  of  Roccus  on  Ships,  and  of  many 
Addresses — Election  to  Congress — Abolition  Petitions — Resolutions  concerning 
Slave  Property — Distribution  Policy — Report  on  the  Assumption  of  State  Debts — 
Report  on  the  three-fifth  Clause  of  the  Constitution — Minority  Tariff  Report — 
Tariff  Act  of  1842 — Circumstances  under  which  it  was  matured  and  reported — 
Bill  to  abolish  Public  Executions — Settlement  of  the  Pea  Patch  Island  Contro 
versy — Oregon — Annexation  of  Texas — Opinions  on  the  Mexican  War — Duty  of 
the  Whig  Party — Resolutions  concerning  the  Restoration  of  Peace — Resolutions 
of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  concerning  the  Naturalization  Laws — Opinions 
thereon — Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the  Judiciary — Personal  Appearance — 
Character  as  a  Debater — Arts  and  Sciences — A  Widower  without  Children 

36-52 


vi  CONTENTS. 

DUNCAN,  DANIEL,  OF  OHIO. 


Birth — Family — Departure  from  Home  to  seek  his  Fortunes  with  his  elder 
Brother,  now  in  Mexico — Success  in  Life — Election  to  the  State  Legislature — First 
Whig  ever  elected  from  Licking  County — Ad  valorem  System  of  Taxation — 
General  Banking  Law — Reduction  of  Pay  of  Members  of  the  Legislature — Gen 
eral  Retrenchment — Nomination  for  Governor  in  1844 — Whig  Candidate  for  State 
Senator — Election  to  Congress — United  States  Bank — Marriage — Personal  Ap 
pearance  Page  53-54 


A'Y 


ROOT,  JOSEPH  MOSELEY,  OF  OHIO. 

Brief  Particulars  of  early  Career — Election  to  Congress — Personal  Appearance 
— Character — Opposition  to  the  Mexican  War — Opinion  of  the  Declaratory  Act 
— Subsequent  Denunciation  of  the  War — Indemnity  for  its  Expenses — Free  and 
Slave  Territory — Sentiments  of  his  Constituents — Chairman  of  two  Committees 

55-59 

DOUGLAS,  STEPHEN  ARNOLD,  OF  ILLINOIS  (Senator). 

Recent  Elevation  to  the  Senate — His  Title  to  that  Distinction — Birth — Parentage 
— Sudden  Death  of  his  Father — His  Mother — On  the  Death  of  her  Husband  she 
removes  to  a  Farm  inherited  by  herself  and  an  unmarried  Brother — The  latter 
adopts  her  Children — Property  increases  in  Value — The  Bachelor  gets  Married — 
Has  a  Son — Change  in  the  Prospects  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas — Leaves  his  Uncle 
— Becomes  an  Apprentice  to  the  Cabinet  Busines — Misunderstanding  with  his 
Employer — Leaves  him — Enters  the  Cabinet-shop  of  Deacon  Knowlton — Makes 
French  Bedsteads — Failing  Health  compels  him  to  leave  the  Shop — Goes  to  the 
Brandon  Academy — Marriage  of  his  Sister  and  Mother — He  becomes  a  Student 
in  the  Canandaigua  Academy — Studies  Law — The  "  Coffin  Hand-bills" — Turns 
his  Steps  Westward — Lands  at  Cleveland,  Ohio — Enters  the  Office  of  S.  J.  An 
drews — Determination  never  to  return  Home  until  successful  in  Life — Prostrated 
by  Sickness — Leaves  Cleveland — Health  restored — Arrives  at  the  Town  of  Win 
chester,  Illinois — Auction  Sale — Clerk  wanted — Accepts  the  Post — Procures  a 
School — Employed  in  Cases  before  Justices  of  the  Peace — Opens  a  Law-office — 
Practices  in  the  higher  Courts — Very  successful — Elected  State's  Attorney — Re 
signs — Elected  to  the  Legislature — Banking  and  Internal  Improvement  Systems 
in  Illinois — The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal — Appointed  Register  of  the  Land- 
office — The  Sub-Treasury — State  of  Parties  in  Congress — Nomination  for  Congress 
— The  Canvass — Success  of  the  Whig  Candidate  by  five  Votes — Mr.  Douglas  re 
turns  to  his  Profession — Presidential  Campaign  of  1840 — The  Canvass  and  its  Re 
sults — Appointed  Secretary  of  State — Elected  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court — 
Nominated  for  Congress — Resigns  his  Judicial  Station — Elected  to  the  Twenty- 
eighth  Congress — Re-elected  to  the  Twenty-ninth  Congress,  and  again  to  the 
Thirtieth  Congress ;  but,  in  the  mean  time,  before  taking  his  Seat,  was  elected  to 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States — His  Marriage — Judicial  Cases — The  Right  of 
a  State  to  confer  the  Elective  Franchise  upon  alien  Inhabitants — Decision — The 
Bankrupt  Law  of  1841 — The  Case  of  Beriy  and  others— Religious  Excitement- 
Attempt  at  Crucifixion — Torture  inflicted — Parties  indicted — Extraordinary  Trial 
•r- Course  of  the  opposing  Counsel — Result  of  the  Trial — Argument  of  Mr.  Douglas 
—Oregon  Controversy — The  Fifty-four  Forties — Course  of  Mr.  Douglas  on  that 
Question  at  the  Twenty-eighth  Congress — Resolution  of  the  Baltimore  Democratic 
Convention  asserting  the  Title  of  the  United  States  to  the  whole  of  the  Oregon 
Territory — Controversies  as  to  the  Extent  of  the  binding  Power  of  that  Conven 
tion — Records  thereof — Inaugural  Address  of  Mr.  Polk — His  reaffirmatiou  of  the 
Doctrine  of  the  Resolution  of  the  Convention — The  State  of  the  Controversy  when, 


CONTENTS.  vii 

Mr.  Polk  became  Chief  Magistrate — He  asserts  our  Title  to  the  whole  Territory- 
Recommends  certain  Measures— The  Notice  to  Great  Britain  to  terminate  the 
Joint  Occupation— Bill  to  protect  the  Rights  of  American  Settlers  in  the  Territory 
— Joint  Resolution  giving  the  Notice — Minority  Report— The  Debate — Opinions 
of  Mr.  Douglas — He  examines  and  approves  Mr.  Folk's  Course  in  its  Bearing  upon 
the  Declaration  of  Mr.  Monroe  respecting  European  Colonization  in  America — 
Termination  of  the  Debate  in  the  House — State  of  the  popular  Feeling — Mr. 
Buchanan's  Opinions  thereon — Mr.  Collamer's  Call  for  Correspondence— Prop 
osition  of  Arbitration  declined— Correspondence  between  Mr.  Pakenham  and 
Mr.  Buchanan — The  Joint  Resolution  of  Notice — Linn  Boyd,  of  Kentucky — Final 
Proceedings  on  the  Notice  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union 
—The  Resolution  reported  to  the  House — Proceedings  in  the  House — The  Vote 
on  the  Resolution— Its  Transmission  to  the  Senate — The  State  of  Perplexity  of  that 
Body — Extraordinary  Character  of  the  Debate — Messrs.  Haywood,  Hannegan, 
Allen,  Westcott,  Crittenden,  and  Mangum — The  Diplomatic  Correspondence  from 
which  the  Injunction  of  Secrecy  had  been  removed — Adoption  by  the  Senate  of 
Reverdy  Johnson's  Substitute  Proposition  of  Notice — The  Vote  thereon — Disa 
greement  between  the  two  Houses — Its  Adjustment — The  Notice  given — Ru 
mors — Proposal  in  the  Form  of  a  Convention  for  the  Settlement  of  the  Oregon 
Question  on  the  Basis  of  Forty-nine — The  President's  Message  transmitting  it 
— Asks  the  Advice  of  the  Senate — That  Body  advises  the  Acceptance — The  Vote 
thereon — Mr.  Pakenham's  Annunciation  to  the  British  Government  of  the  Re 
sult — Resignation  of  Mr.  Allen  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Re 
lations — Letter  of  Mr.  Cass — The  Convention  as  "  Concluded  and  Signed" — 
Proceedings  of  the  Senate — Ratification  of  the  Treaty — The  Vote  thereon — Mr. 
Buchanan's  Letter  to  Mr.  M'Lane  touching  the  Construction  of  the  second  Arti 
cle  of  the  Treaty — No  Understanding  placed  on  the  Records  of  the  Senate — Mr. 
Douglas  in  Oregon  and  Queen  Mary  in  Calais — Question  whether  the  President, 
in  compromising  on  Forty-nine,  had  violated  his  Faith  with  the  Democratic  Party 
— Conversation  thereon  in  the  House  between  Mr.  Seddon  and  Mr.  Douglas^ 
Agency  of  Daniel  Webster  in  the  Settlement  of  the  Oregon  Dispute — His  Let 
ter  to  Mr.  M'Gregor — Letter  of  Mr.  M'Lane  to  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Com 
merce — Districting  Law  of  Congress — Maritime  Jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  the 
United  States — The  Fine  imposed  on  General  Jackson — Declaration  of  Martial 
Law  at  New  Orleans — Anecdote  of  the  General — Internal  Improvements — Inde 
pendent  Treasury — The  Naturalization  Laws — Annexation  of  Texas — The  Smith 
sonian  Institute— The  War  with  Mexico— The  Wilmot  Proviso — The  Trist  Treaty 
— Public  Character  of  Mr.  Douglas Page  60-172 

BIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  ONE  HOUR  RULE. 

Its  Claims  to  a  Biography — The  Government  of  popular  Bodies — Charles  J.  In- 
gersoll — Progress  of  the  Age — Neuralgia — The  House  of  Representatives  in 
1812-15 — Caleb  Gushing — How  the  House  is  best  ruled — Introduction  to  the  One 
Hour  Rule — Lamentations — John  S.  Chipman — Henry  W.  Hilliard — Francis  W. 
Pickens — Robert  C.  Winthrop — Daniel  D.  Barnard — His  Satire — Prospect  of  the 
Permanence  of  the  Rule — Long  Speeches — Mode  of  obtaining  a  Decision — Weari 
ness — First  Principles — Point  of  Order — John  Q.  Adams's  aboriginal  Claim  of 
Title  to  the  Oregon  Territory — Convention  to  Reform  the  Constitution  of  Penn 
sylvania — A  Member  thereof — Anecdote — Point  of  Order  overruled  by  the  House 
— Results  of  the  One  Hour  Rule — Introduced  into  the  Courts  of  Pennsylvania — 
Alexander  Hamilton — Aaron  Burr — Father  of  the  Rule — Its  Mate — "  The  Screw" 
Family 173-183 


viii  CONTENTS. 


BLANCHARD,  JOHN,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


A 


VHis  Appearance  at  the  Opening  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Congress — Doings  of 
Death  in  that  Congress — Mr.  Blanchard's  Speech — Birth — Parentage — Education 
— Pursuits— Marriage — Political  Principles — Election  to  Congress — Speech  on  the 
Tariff \  - '.  ', Page  184-186 

MACLAY,  WILLIAM  BROWN,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Birth — His  Father — Some  Account  of  him — Remarkable  Preservation  of  his  Life 
— Personal  Recollections  of  "  Old  Mortality" — Early  Education  and  Career  of  W. 

B.  Maclay — Elected  a  Member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University  of  New 
York — The  New  York  Quarterly  Magazine — Scientific  Periodical — Introduction 
to  the  Review  of  the  Memoirs  of  Sir  Walter  Scott — Review  of  Mrs.  Jameson's 
Characteristics  of  the  Women  of  Shakspeare :  Juliet ;  Lady  Macbeth ;  Ophelia ; 
Mercutio ;  Fanny  Kemble  ;  the  Medea;  the  Greek  and  Latin  Drama — Mr.  Maclay 
admitted  to  the  Bar — Criminal  Trial  in  New  York — Mr.  Maclay's  Marriage — 
Nomination  for  the  Legislature — Defeated — Again  nominated — Elected — Regis 
tration  of  Voters — Reorganization  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  New  York — Superior 
Court  and  Court  of  Common  Pleas — Bill  authorizing  double  Sessions  thereof — 
Bill  concerning  non-enumerated  Business — Literature  Fund  of  the  State  of  New 
York — New  Yoi'k  and  Erie  Rail-road  Company — Mr.  Maclay  re-elected — Com 
mon  School  Law — Sketch  of  the  Features  of  the  School  System — The  new  System 
— Official  Returns — Unpublished  Journals  of  the  Provincial  Congress — Mr.  Maclay 
thrice  elected  to  Congress — Native  Americanism — Annexation  of  Texas — Oregon 
Controversy — Reduction  of  Postage — United  States  Steamship  Missouri — Explor 
ing  Expedition — Earl's  Cordage — Wheels  for  Ocean  Steamers — Claim  of  the  Heirs 
of  John  Paul  Jones — Report  thereon — Passage  of  the  Bill — The  Bill,  by  a  strange 
Accident,  not  signed  by  the  President — Death  of  Mr.  Loudon — Bill  again  passed 
— Affecting  Death  of  John  Paul  Jones — The  Cottage  of  his  Nativity — Generous 
Conduct  of  Lieutenant  A.  B.  Pinkham,  U.  S.  Navy — Address  on  the  Sub-Treasury 
— Relief  of  Ireland — Meeting  in  Washington — Presentation  of  Sword  to  Lieutenant 

C.  A.  Morris — Biographical  Notice  of  him — His  Services  and  Death — Dinner  to 
Colonel  Ward  B.  Burnett — Remarks  of  Mr.  Maclay — His  published  Addresses — 
Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society — The  Southern  Tier  of  Counties  of  New  York 
— Glen  Mary — A  Visit  to  Willis — Many  curious  Things — Death  of  Daniel  O'Con- 
uell— The  Public  Lands  and  the  National  Reformers 187-235 

M'lLVAINE,  ABRAHAM  ROBINSON,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

His  Election  to  Congress — Parentage — Birth — Education — A  practical  Farmer 
—Elected  to  the  State  Legislature — The  Tariff— The  Annexation  of  Texas— The 
Mexican  War — Course  and  Opinions  thereon — Views  of  his  Constituents — His 
Character,  public  and  private 236-250 

HARALSON,  HUGH  ANDERSON,  OF  GEORGIA. 

Birth — Parentage — Education — Studies  Law — Admitted  to  Practice — Marriage 
— Removal — Politics  and  his  Opinions  thereon — Elected  to  the  Legislature — With 
draws  from  Public  Life — Derangement  of  the  Currency — United  States  Bank — H 
Election  to  the  State  Senate — Indian  Disturbances — Politics  in  Georgia — His 
Election  to  the  Twenty-eighth  Congress — Twice  re-elected — Appointment  of  a 
Lieutenant  General — Legislative  History  of  that  Question — The  President's  Mes 
sage  recommending  the  Appointment — Its  Reference  and  Disposition — Reconsid 
eration  thereof — Change  in  the  Opinion  of  Members — Bill  to  raise  an  additional 
Military  Force — Jacob  Thompson's  Amendment  providing  for  the  Appointment — • 


7  (A. 


CONTENTS.  ix 

Tlie  Vote  thereon — Senate  Bill  providing  for  an  additional  Number  of  General 
Officers — Amendment  authorizing  the  President  to  appoint  any  General  Officer  to 
the  chief  Command  of  the  Army  without  regard  to  Date  of  Commission — Vote 
thereon — Senate  Bill  providing  for  the  Appointment  of  a  Lieutenant  General — 
Vote  thereon — Senate  strike  out  the  House  Amendment,  making  Provision  for  a 
Lieutenant  General,  from  the  Bill  providing  for  an  additional  Number  of  General 
Officers — Appointment  not  made — Committee  on  Military  Affairs — The  Army — 
The  Navy — Hostility  toward  them — Mr.  Haralson's  Course — Extracts — Annexa 
tion  of  Texas — The  Oregon  Controversy — The  Mexican  War — The  Ten  Regiment 
Bill — Pontoon  Train  for  General  Taylor — Explanations  thereon — Expenses  in 
curred  in  behalf  of  Volunteers .  Page  251-267 

GIDDINGS,  JOSHUA  REED,  OF  OHIO. 

His  Repute  and  Identity — Parentage — Birth — Removal— Condition  of  the  Coun 
try—His  early  Lot— A  Soldier — A  School-teacher — Student  of  Law — Admitted 
to  the  Bar — Marriage — Election  to  Congress — The  Twenty-first  Rule — Abolition 
of  Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia — His  Opinions  touching  the  Power  of  the 
Federal  Government  over  it — Slavery  in  the  States — Mr.  Crittenden's  Resolutions 
concerning  it — Slave-trade  between  the  States — Mr.  Giddings  avows  himself  an 
Abolitionist — Prejudices  against  him — Principles  for  which  he  has  contended — 
— His  Course  in  the  enforcement  of  them — Essays  of  "Pacificus" — The  Florida 
War — The  Brig  "  Creole" — History  of  her  Capture — Demand  for  Redress — Reso 
lutions  introduced  by  Mr.  Giddings — Effect  on  the  House — Resolution  of  Censure 
— Scene — Adoption  of  the  Resolution — Resignation  of  Mr.  Giddings — His  Re 
turn  Home — His  Re-election — Annexation  of  Texas — Declaratory  Resolutions — 
Vote  on  the  Mexican  War  Bill — Admission  of  American  Wheat  into  foreign 
Ports — River  and  Harbor  Appropriations — Oregon — Vote  on  the  Election  of 
Speaker — Prejudice — Illustrative  Anecdote — Mr.  Giddings's  Position  in  the  House 
— Demagogism — The  North  and  South — Cause  of  Complaint  between  them — Illus 
trative  Scenes  and  Debates — Messrs.  Giddings,  E.  J.  Black,  Venable,  Gayle,  John 
son  of  Arkansas,  Haskell,  Bayly,  Meade,  Foote,  Hale,  Calhoun,  Butler,  Westcott, 
Mangum,  Douglas,  Jefferson  Davis — Personal  Bearing  of  Mr.  Giddings — Anecdote 
— Duties  as  a  Representative 268-327 

LUMPKIN,  JOHN  HENRY,  OF  GEORGIA. 

District — Ancestiy — Family — John  Lumpkin — William  Lumpkin — Family  of 
John  Lumpkin,  Senior — Joseph  Henry  Lumpkin — George  Lumpkin — Early  Ca 
reer  of  John  H. — Admission  to  the  Bar — The  Cherokee  Country — Removal  of  Mr. 
Lumpkin — His  Election  to  the  Legislature — Central  Rail-road  Company — Inter 
nal  Improvement  Convention — Common  Schools — Appropriation — Improvement 
of  the  Coosa  River — Marriage — Death  of  his  Wife — Mr.  Lumpkin  elected  Solicitor 
General  of  the  Cherokee  Circuit — Nomination  for  Congress — Second  Marriage — 
His  Election  to  Congress — Second  Section  of  the  Apportionment  Law — His  Views 
— Horses  lost  in  the  Florida  War — Mr.  Lumpkin's  Nomination  and  Election  to  the 
Twenty-ninth  Congress — His  Political  Principles — The  Mexican  War — His  Opin 
ions — National  Foundry  in  Cass  County — Division  of  Georgia  into  two  Judicial 
Districts — Character  as  a  public  Man — As  a  Debater — Interests  of  his  Constituents 
—Letters  . .  328-340 


HUNT,  WASHINGTON,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

District — Birth — Ancestry — Removal  of  the  Family — Washington  Hunt  studies 
Law — Admitted  to  the  Bar — His  political  Opinions — Candidate  for  Congress — Ap- 
pointed  Judge — Duties  of  the  Station,  how  discharged — His  Retirement — Meet 


Vt 


x  CONTENTS. 

ing  of  the  Bar — Proceedings  thereof — Reply — Withdrawal  from  Politics — Change 
in  the  Position  of  Parties — Mr.  Hunt's  Opinions — His  Election  to  Congress  and 
regular  Re-election — Amendments  to  the  Constitution — Lake  and  River  Naviga 
tion—The  Protective  System — Ship  Canal  around  the  Falls  of  Niagara— The 
Naturalization  Laws — His  Opinions  thereon — The  Oregon  Question — Annexation 
of  Texas — The  Mexican  War — His  Opinions  thereon — Declaratory  Resolution — 
The  Wilmot  Proviso — Resolution  of  Thanks  to  General  Scott — Bill  for  the  Relief 
of  Ireland — History  of  that  Measure — Whig  State  Convention  of  Syracuse — Mr. 
Hunt's  Address  as  President  thereof — Committee  on  Commerce — Personal  Ex 
planations — Private  Character  of  Mr.  Hunt Page  341-365 

SIMS,  ALEXANDER  DROMGOOLE,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

District— Birth — Family — Early  Career — Studies  Law — Admitted  to  Practice 
in  Virginia — Removal  to  South  Carolina — Teaches  School — His  Success — Nullifi 
cation  Troubles — General  Jackson's  Proclamation — Public  Meeting — Enrollment 
of  Volunteers — Resolutions  in  Condemnation  of  the  Proclamation — Mr.  Sims's 
Election  to  the  State  Legislature — Author  of  several  Measures  adopted  by  the 
Legislature — Takes  his  Seat  as  a  Member  of  the  Twenty-ninth  Congress — State 
of  our  foreign  Relations — Politics  of  Mr.  Sims — The  Smithsonian  Institute — Mr. 
Sims's  Opposition  thereto,  and  its  Cause — Biographical  Notice  of  James  Smithson 
— Appropriations  for  Harbors  and  Rivers — The  Oregon  Notice — Mr.  Sims's  Opin 
ions  of  the  relative  Duties  of  the  Legislative  and  Treaty-making  Power  respect 
ing  that  Measure — Views  as  to  the  Settlement  of  the  Question — The  Mexican  War 
— Appointment  of  Lieutenant  General — Slavery — Extract  from  Debates — Messrs. 
Sims,  Burt,  and  Bradford  R.  Wood — Local  Matters — Demagogism,  and  what  con 
stitutes  it — Pamphlet  on  Slavery — Bevil  Faulcon — Political  Essays — Eulogy  on 
the  late  John  Campbell — Mr.  Sims's  Marriage — Death  of  his  Wife — His  Duties  in 
Congress — The  Retrocession  of  Alexandria 366-375 

WINTHROP,  ROBERT  CHARLES,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Fame  of  that  State — Her  Delegations  in  Congress — Robert  C.  Winthrop — His 
Position  at  Home — Opposition  to  him — Its  Result — Statement  of  George  T.  Curtis 
— Mr.  Winthrop's  Absence  in  Europe — His  Birth  and  Ancestry — John  Winthrop 
and  the  Massachusetts  Colony — The  younger  Winthrop — His  Character — Father 
of  R.  0.  Winthrop — Early  Pursuits  of  the  Latter — His  Admittance  to  the  Bar — 
Diverted  to  Public  Life — Abandons  the  Practice  of  his  Profession — Elected  to  the 
State  Legislature — Remains  there  six  Years — Elected  Speaker — His  Character  in 
that  Capacity — Elected  to  Congress — His  Marriage — Death  of  his  Wife — Charac 
ter  as  a  Debater — Extracts  —  The  Compromise  Act — Resolution  of  Inquiry  into 
the  Revenue  Laws — Imprisonment  of  colored  Seamen  from  Massachusetts  in  the 
Southern  States — Report  and  Resolutions  concerning  that  Subject — Disposition 
thereof — The  same  Question  in  connection  with  British  Subjects — The  Twenty- 
first  Rule — Views  of  Mr.  Winthrop — Annexation  of  Texas — First  Declaration  of 
that  Policy  in  Congress — Resolution  introduced  by  Mr.  Winthrop — His  Opposition 
to  the  Joint  Resolution  of  Annexation,  and  his  Reasons — His  subsequent  Conduct 
toward  Texas — Toast  at  Faneuil  Hall — The  Oregon  Controversy — Reproaches — 
Resolutions  proposing  Arbitration — Notices  of  them — Suspicions  met — Extract — 
Messrs.  Winthrop  and  M'Clernand — Charges  against  the  former  at  Home,  stated 
— History  of  the  Act  of  the  13th  May,  1846,  declaring  the  Existence  of  War  with 
Mexico,  and  of  the  Preamble — Proceedings  and  Votes  thereon — Controversies 
touching  the  Preamble — Mr.  Winthrop's  Exposition  of  his  Vote — Provisoes  con 
cerning  the  War— His  Rule  of  future  Conduct— The  Three  Million  Bill— His 
Opinions  thereon — Aid  and  Comfort  to  the  Enemy — Extract — Messrs.  Winthrop 


CONTENTS.  xi 

and  Seaborn  Jones — Object  in  making  the  Extracts — The  War  of  1812 — Politi 
cians — Our  People — Their  Temper — Destiny — Extract  from  Mr.  Clay's  Speech  at 
Lexington — Mr.  Wiuthrop's  Services  on  Committees — As  a  Commercial  Repre 
sentative — Views  on  the  Naturalization  Laws — The  Arts  and  Sciences — Internal 
Improvements — Private  Claims — Literary  Accomplishments — Visit  to  Europe — 
Opinion  of  Edward  Everett,  &c. — Springfield  Convention — Election  of  Mr.  Win- 
throp  as  Speaker  of  the  National  House  of  Representatives — Correspondence  with 
Mr.  Palfrey — Inaugural  Address Page  376-424 

A  CALL  OF  THE  HOUSE. 

Solicitude  for  the  Reader — The  Representative  Body — "A  Call" — Its  Utility — 
Opinion  of  J.  Q.  Adams — Heroes — Rules  governing  a  Call — Causes  of  the  Ab 
sence  of  a  Quorum — Mode  of  securing  a  Listener — A  Parenthesis — The  Bell  of 
the  Capitol — Proceedings  on  a  Call — Captives — Excuses — Maryland — Georgia — 
Virginia — Tennessee — Kentucky — The  Member  from  Alabama — Descent  down 
the  granite  Pillar — Daylight — Its  Revelations — Results  of  the  Call — Adjournment 

425-430 

CABELL,  EDWARD  CARRINGTON,  OF  FLORIDA. 

Parentage,  &c. — Judge  Cabell — E.  C.  Cabell  graduates — Removes — Some  Par 
ticulars  as  to  Florida  and  her  probable  Destiny — Convention  to  frame  a  Constitu 
tion — Admission  of  Florida  into  the  Union — Mr.  Cabell's  Participation  therein — 
Politics — Elections — Senator  Yulee — Contested  Election  between  Mr.  Cabell  and 
Mr.  Bi'ockenbrough — Particulars  of  that  Contest — Proceedings  in  the  House  and 
their  Result — Mr.  Cabell  deprived  of  his  Seat — The  Feeling  of  the  House  person 
ally  toward  him — His  Election  to  the  Thirtieth  Congress — His  Letter  concerning 
the  Election  of  Speaker 431-445 


BOWLIN,  JAMES  BUTLER,  OF  MISSOURI. 

Parentage — Removal — Early  Career  and  Pursuits — Practices  Law — Removes 
to  the  West — Settles  at  St.  Louis — Political  Struggle — Purchases  a  Newspaper 
and  conducts  it — Elected  Chief  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Missouri 
— Returns  to  his  Profession — Elected  to  the  Legislature — Marriage — Appointed 
District  Attorney — Resigns — Nominated  for  the  Legislature — Elected  Judge — 
Lynch  Law  in  St.  Louis — Judge  Bowlin's  resolute  Conduct  in  its  Suppression — 
Extract  from  his  Charge — Results — Resigns  the  Office — Martin  Van  Buren's  Visit 
to  St.  Louis — Mr.  Bowlin  nominated  for  Congress — Elected — Regularly  re-elected 
— Banks  and  Banking  in  Missouri — The  Currency  Bill — Currency  Reform — Di 
visions  in  the  Democratic  Ranks — Resolutions  of  Mr.  Bowlin — Struggle  between 
the  "  Hards"  and  "  Softs" — Results  thereof— Reunion  of  the  Democratic  Party — 
Mr.  Bowlin  a  Candidate  for  Speaker  of  the  National  House  of  Representatives — 
Withdraws — Single  District  System — Western  Rivers — Disasters  thereon — Texas 
— Oregon — Western  Interests — The  Mexican  War — Tax  on  Tea  and  Coffee — The 
Wilmot  Proviso — Return  of  Colonel  Doniphan's  Regiment  from  Mexico — Their 
Reception  by  the  Citizens  of  Missouri — Address  of  Mr.  Bowlin  .  .  .  446-456 


HOLMES,  ELIAS  BELLOWS,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Birth — Early  Struggles  and  Pursuits — Studies  Law — Admitted  to  Practice — Mar 
riage — Investments — Success — Election  to  Congress — Character  as  a  Member  of 
that  Body — His  re-election — The  Mexican  War — His  Course  and  Votes  thereon 
— His  Business  and  Estates ,  457-463 


xii  CONTENTS. 

SMITH,  ROBERT,  OF  ILLINOIS. 

Birth — Family — Jeremiah  Smith — Epitaph — Samuel  Smith — John,  the  Father 
s  of  Robert — His  Death  and  Character — The  Mother  of  Robert  Smith — Early  Pur 
suits  of  the  latter — Teaches  School — Learns  a  Trade — Becomes  a  Partner  in  the 
Smithville  Manufacturing  Company — Returns  to  the  Machine-shop — Learns  the 
Process  of  converting  raw  Cotton  into  Cloth — Superintends  a  Store  and  Factory 
— Health  fails — Travels — Resumes  his  Station  in  the  Firm — Preaching  and  Dancing 
— Creation  of  a  new  Town — Difficulties  growing  out  of  it — Commencement  at 
Hanover — Strangers  of  Distinction — Marriage  of  Mr.  Smith — Preparations  for  emi 
gration  Westward — Studies  Law — Journey  to  Michigan — Departs  for  Illinois — 
Condition  of  Things  there — Lands — Mr.  Smith  elected  Captain  of  the  Militia 
Company — Does  Lawyer's  Services  without  Fees — Purchases  large  Tracts  of 
Land — Lays  it  out  into  Building  Lots — Makes  a  Road — Builds  Houses — Makes  a 
Fortune — Loses  it — Nominated  for  the  Legislature — Defeated  by  Trick — Again 
nominated  arid  elected — Internal  Improvements  in  Illinois — Bank  Suspension — 
Re-elected — The  Cumberland  Road — Elected  enrolling  and  engrossing  Clerk  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  Illinois — State  newly  districted — Mr.  Smith  elect 
ed  to  the  Twenty-eighth  Congress — Regularly  re-elected — Has  announced  his  De 
termination  not  again  to  be  a  Candidate — His  Position  at  Home — His  Course  in 
the  National  Councils — Rivers  and  Harbors — Continuation  of  the  Cumberland 
Road — Donations  of  Land  to  actual  Settlers — Reduction  and  Graduation — Oregon 
— The  Wilmot  Proviso — Pay  of  the  Army— Bills,  Reports,  &c.  .  Page  464-477 

KING,  DANIEL  PUTNAM,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Birth — Ancestors — Occupations — Agricultural  Societies — Amendment  to  the 
Smithsonian  Institute — Addresses  and  Education — Marriage — His  good  Luck — 
Election  to  the  State  Legislature — President  of  the  Senate — Speaker  of  the  House 
— Character  in  that  Capacity — Service  on  Committees — Measures  reported  by 
him — The  State  Lunatic  Hospital — Election  and  re-election  to  Congress — His 
Course  in  that  Body — Revolutionary  Pensioners — Marine  Hospital  Fund — Pen 
sions  to  wounded  Frivateersmen — Spirit  Rations — Fishing  Bounties — Local  Mat 
ters — His  Vote  on  the  Mexican  War  Bill — Amendment — His  Opinions  on  the  War 
— Slavery 478-484 

HOUSTON,  JOHN  WALLACE,  OF  DELAWARE. 

District — Birth — Education — Early  Entrance  into  Public  Life — Election  to 
Congress,  and  re-election — His  Ancestors — His  political  Opinions — The  only  Rep 
resentative  from  a  Slaveholding  State  who  voted  in  favor  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso 
— Slavery  in  Delaware — His  Reasons  for  the  Vote  referred  to — Joint  Resolution 
of  Thanks  to  General  Taylor — Proceedings  of  the  House  thereon — Amendment  of 
Mr.  Henley  concerning  the  War — Amendment  of  Mr.  Ashmun — Vote  thereon — 
Subsequent  Proceedings  on  the  same  Day 485-492 


V 


BAYLY,  THOMAS  HENRY,  OF  VIRGINIA. 

District — Parentage — Ancestors — Education — Studies  Law — Practices — Suc 
cess — Elected  to  the  Legislature — Elected  Brigadier  General — Manner  of  the 
Election — Ex-Senator  Rives — Controversy  between  New  York  and  Virginia — Mr. 
Bayly's  Connection  therewith — Elected  to  the  Bench — Public  Testimonial — Re 
signs  his  judicial  Office— Election  and  re-election  to  Congress — His  Course — 
Oregon— Internal  Improvements — Ex-President  Tyler— Mr.  Folk's  Veto  of  the 
Harbor  Bill — The  Protective  System — Mr.  Bayly's  Opinions  and  Speeches — His 
political  Consistency  attacked  and  vindicated — The  Naturalization  Laws — The 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

Annexation  of  Texas — The  Mexican  War  Bill — The  Wilmot  Proviso— The  Ordi 
nance  of  1787 — The  Missouri  Compromise — Slavery— Marriage — Position  and 
Character  in  the  House Page  493-509 

M'CLERNAND,  JOHN  ALEXANDER,  OP  ILLINOIS. 

Parentage — Birth — Family — Education — Labor — Studies  Law — How  encour 
aged  to  do  so — Admitted  to  the  Bar — A  Soldier — A  Trader — An  Editor — Practices 
Law — Success — His  political  Principles — Elected  to  the  Legislature — State  of 
Politics  and  Parties — The  Contest  and  its  Result — Internal  Improvements  in  Illi 
nois — Mr.  M'Clernand's  Vote  under  Instructions — His  Regret — Subsequent  Opin 
ions — Extract — Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal — Mr.  M'Clernand  elected  Commis 
sioner  and  Treasurer — Resigns — Complimentary  Resolutions — Nominated  for 
Lieutenant  Governor — Declines — Democratic  Resolutions — Nominated  for  the  Of 
fice  of  Secretary  of  State  of  Illinois — Some  Account  of  the  Controversy  arising 
out  of  that  Act,  and  its  Result — Mr.  M'Clernand  re-elected  to  the  Legislature — 
New  Judiciary  Bill — Reform — The  Debate  thereon — Challenge — Mr.  M'Clernand 
chosen  Presidential  Elector — The  Canvass — Its  Results — Re-elected  to  the  Legis 
lature — Financial  Crisis  in  Illinois — Banks,  Internal  Improvements,  &c. — Meas 
ures  proposed  and  adopted — His  Election  to  Congress — His  Marriage — His  Course 
in  Congress — Fine  imposed  on  General  Jackson — Extracts — The  second  Section 
of  the  Apportionment  Law — The  Rhode  Island  Controversy — Grant  of  Land  to 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  —  Mr.  M'Clernand  nominated  for  Governor  of 
Illinois — Declines — His  re-election  to  Congress — Texas — The  Tariff — Oregon — 
Tennessee  Lands — The  Mexican  War — Reduction  and  Graduation  of  the  Price  of 
the  Public  Lands — Bills  concerning  those  Objects — The  Mineral  Lands — The 
Wilmot  Proviso — Internal  Improvements — Jackson  Monument  Committee — Eulo 
gy  on  General  Jackson — Mr.  M'Clernand's  re-election — His  Address  to  the  Illi 
nois  Volunteers — His  public  Life — Style  of  Speaking,  &c 510-526 

CHAPMAN,  JOHN  GRANT,  OF  MARYLAND. 

District — Residence — Ancestors — Birth — Early  Life — Education — Studies  Law 
— Enters  the  Bar — Practices — Elected  to  the  Legislature — Gradually  retires  from 
the  Profession — Re-elections  to  the  Legislature — Services  therein — Elected  Speak 
er — Re-elected  to  the  Legislature — Elected  to  the  Senate — President  thereof — 
Retires  from  public  Life — Again  elected — Repudiation — His  Opinions  thereon — 
Nominated  for  Governor — Elected  again  to  the  House  of  Delegates — Conciliatory 
Temper  of  the  opposition  Party — Opinion  of  a  Cotemporary — Insolvent  System 
of  Maryland — Imprisonment  for  Debt — Costs  in  Civil  Suits — Land  Titles — Finan 
cial  Condition  of  the  State — Internal  Improvements — Direct  Taxation — School 
System  in  Charles  County — The  Washington  Monument  in  Baltimore — Em 
barrassed  Finances  of  Maryland — The  Responsibility  thereof — Position  of  Mary 
land  toward  the  Trade  and  Commerce  of  the  West  in  the  Event  of  a  Dissolution 
of  the  Union— Mr.  Chapman's  Election  to  Congress — His  Course  there— Restrictive 
Duties  upon  Tobacco — Amendment  to  the  Tariff  Bill — The  Measures  required,  in 
the  Opinion  of  Mr.  Chapman,  to  restore  Prosperity  to  the  Tobacco  Interest — Ex 
tract — Eastern  Branch  of  the  Potomac — Mr.  Chapman's  Services  in  Committee 
— His  Marriage,  Character,  and  Pursuits 527-545 

BRODHEAD,  RICHARD,  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

District — Birth — Residence — Ancestry — Admitted  to  the  Bar — Three  times 
elected  to  the  Legislature — Elected  to  the  Twenty-eighth  Congress — Regular  re 
election — His  political  Principles — Course  on  the  Tariff — Defense  of  the  Protective 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

Principle — National  Foundries — Tonnage  Duties  on  Canal  Boats — Compilation  of 
the  Pension  Laws — The  Mexican  War — Oregon — Territorial  Acquisition — Slavery 
— The  Wilmot  Proviso — Extracts — Personal  Appearance,  &c.  .  Page  546-555 

HUDSON,  CHARLES,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Parentage — Education — Labors  on  a  Farm — Studies  Theology — Licensed  as  a 
Universalist  Minister — Marriage — Doctrine  of  Retribution  beyond  Death — Con 
troversy — Separation — New  Religious  Denomination — Sabbath-schools — Sacred 
Memoirs — Mr.  Hudson  elected  to  the  Legislature — Serves  in  both  Branches — 
Internal  Improvements  in  Massachusetts — Reports — Appointed  a  Member  of  the 
Board  of  Education — Director  of  the  Western  Rail-road — Member  of  the  Execu 
tive  Council — Elected  to  Congress — Reports — Personal  Appearance — Style  of 
Speaking — Political  Principles — The  Protective  Policy — Speech  on  the  Corn 
Laws — The  Right  of  Petition — Texas — His  Vote  on  the  Mexican  War  Bill — The 
Wilmot  Proviso — Parents,  &c 556-560 

DUER,  WILLIAM,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

A  new  Member — Birth — Parentage — Early  Studies — Admitted  to  the  Bar — 
Removes  to  Oswego — Returns  to  New  York — Publishes — Candidate  for  the  Legis 
lature — Defeated — Removes  to  New  Orleans — Admitted  to  the  Bar  there — Mar 
riage — Again  removes  to  Oswego — Elected  to  the  Legislature — Anti-rentism — The 
Governor's  Massage  to  the  Legislature — Mr.  Duer's  Report — Bill  passed — Criti 
cisms — Re-elected  to  the  Legislature — Committee  on  Literature — Journals  of  the 
New  York  Provincial  Legislature,  &c. — Common  Schools — The  North  River  Bank 
— Case  of  Alexander  M'Leod — Qualification  of  Voters — Candidate  for  Congress — 
Defeated — Delegate  to  the  National  Whig  Convention — Candidate  for  State  Con 
vention — Defeated — District  Attorney — Election  to  Congress — Personal  Appear 
ance  .  ,  561-565 


M 


ABBOTT,  AMOS,  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Birth — Ancestry — Pursuits — Cause  of  Education — Elected  to  the  Legislature — 
Public  Charities — Internal  Improvements  in  Massachusetts — The  Boston  and 
Maine  Rail-road — Elected  to  Congress — District — Re-elected — Personal  Appear 
ance,  &c. — Political  Principles— Marriage— Religion 566-568 


HISTORY  OF  CONGRESS. 


V 


from  a.  Da-guerr  eotype  "by  Y.  Halgin. . 


HISTORY  OF  CONGRESS. 


HOLMES,  ISAAC  EDWARD. 

X  HE  State  of  South  Carolina,  which  comprises  seven  Con 
gressional  Districts,  has  given  to  the  nation  no  more  honora 
ble  representative  than  the  gentleman  with  whose  name  these 
biographical  pages  open.  Nor  do  we  regret  that  the  indefinite 
and  somewhat  arbitrary  arrangement  of  our  matter,  which,  in 
a  work  of  this  character,  we  must  necessarily  adopt,  should 
render  it  our  duty  thus  early  to  introduce  him  to  the  more  in 
timate  acquaintance  of  Congress  and  the  country.  This  we 
are  inclined  to  do  in  a  liberal  spirit,  because,  while  his  political 
position  has  at  times  been  both  delicate  and  peculiar,  he  has 
measurably  been  deprived  of  the  advantages  resulting  from  a 
fair  representation  of  his  course  through  the  ordinary  channels 
of  public  communication.  Very  few  of  his  speeches  have  been 
placed  on  record.  The  peculiarity  of  his  manner,  the  inflec 
tions  of  his  voice,  and  the  habit  he  has  acquired  of  turning  and 
addressing  himself  to  different  quarters  of  the  House,  render  it 
very  difficult  to  note  accurately  any  thing  he  may  say.  Add 
to  these  obstacles  the  inherent  defect  in  the  building  itself,  and 
to  report  him  has  been  found,  in  many  instances,  an  almost 
impossible  achievement. 

We  can  not,  perhaps,  avail  ourselves  of  a  more  appropriate 
occasion  to  say  a  few  words  in  relation  to  the  Hall.  It  is  built 
as  if  to  illustrate  the  successful  ingenuity  of  an  architect,  who 
had  staked  his  reputation  on  the  erection  of  a  building  wherein 
the  sound  of  the  human  voice  might  be  lost  in  its  own  ascend- 

9 


10  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

ing  echoes.  The  loudest  voices,  not  caught  precisely  in  the 
proper  angle,  are  frequently  the  least  heard.  A  rumbling  noise, 
as  of  distant  thunder,  may,  it  is  true,  grate  upon  the  ear,  but 
its  living  accompaniment  is  lost.  It  splits  the  tympanum,  but 
it  penetrates  not  the  understanding.  Members  in  close  prox 
imity  are  often  at  a  loss  to  know  what  is  said,  and  receive  the 
first  intimation  of  some  serious  or  important  matter  in  the  pa 
pers  of  the  next  morning.  For  example  :  when  General  Har 
rison  had  been  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  it  had 
become  the  habit  of  some  of  his  political  opponents  to  attempt 
to  weaken  the  force  of  any  claim  he  might  have  upon  the  peo 
ple  of  the  country  by  reason  of  his  military  services.  If  there 
is  one  great  national  sin  which  may  justly  be  laid  to  our  charge, 
it  is  the  reckless,  wanton,  and  unscrupulous  virulence  with 
which  we  assail  private  character  for  party  objects.  It  is  a 
crying  reproach  upon  us,  which  honorable  men  of  all  parties 
should  unite  to  wipe  away.  The  corrupt  and  heartless  maxim 
that  "all  is  fair  in  politics,"  finds  with  us,  in  this  respect,  its 
oompletest  exemplification ;  forcing  us,  with  Lady  Morgan,  to 
regard  them  as  "a  fearful  rock  which  makes  shipwreck  of 
man's  better  sympathies."  Herein  we  present  a  striking  con 
trast  to  other  nations.  With  them,  the  penalty  which  every 
public  man  pays  as  the  price  of  his  distinction — that  is,  the 
subjection,  in  his  public  character,  to  severe  criticism  and  scru 
tiny — is  rigidly  exacted.  But  there,  for  the  most  part,  the 
censorship  terminates.  Private  character  is  sacred.  The  blood 
which  has  flowed  in  the  cause  of  the  country  ;  the  public  virtue 
which  has  exalted  its  character ;  the  genius  which  has  shed 
luster  upon  its  history — these  things,  at  least,  are  exempt  from 
the  sacrilegious  profanation  of  party.  They  are  the  common 
property  of  the  nation ;  the  evidences  of  its  grandeur — the  pil 
lars  of  its  strength.  To  assail  them  is  to  do  violence  to  the 
nation  itself,  whose  inestimable  heritage  they  are.  It  should 
be  so  with  us ;  we  know  that  it  is  not.  In  the  fierce  contests 
of  party,  every  thing  that  forms  the  slightest  impediment  to 
its  success  becomes  a  shining  mark  for  its  envenomed  shafts, 
until  even  the  ashes  of  the  dead  are  not  always  objects  of  re 
spect.  Members  of  the  National  Legislature,  be  it  yours,  by 
your  example  here,  to  take  away  this  "  perpetual  shame"  from 
our  land ! 


ISAAC   EDWARD   HOLMES.  11 

But  to  return.  The  House  was  in  Committee  of  the  Whole 
on  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  the  floor  was  held  by  a  member 
of  the  Democratic  party.  He  stood  on  the  right  of  the  chair, 
about  midway  down  the  aisle.  His  speech  was  of  a  general 
political  character.  Among  other  things,  he  disputed  the  mil 
itary  merits  of  General  Harrison,  and  was  understood,  by  many 
members,  to  refer  disparagingly  to  his  reputation,  in  respect  to 
that  point  on  which,  of  all  others,  a  soldier  is  sensitive.  A 
member  of  the  opposite  party,  whose  seat  was  in  the  aisle  di 
rectly  in  front  of  the  chair,  rose  to  a  point  of  order.  He  dis 
tinctly  stated  it  to  be,  whether  it  was  in  order  for  a  member, 
who  had  himself  recently  been  branded  as  a  coward  on  the 
floor  of  the  House,  to  charge  General  Harrison  with  cowardice. 
The  point  was  not  pressed  to  a  formal  decision,  and  the  mem 
ber  who  had  made  it  quietly  took  his  seat.  The  Democratic 
member  had  a  general,  indistinct  knowledge,  as  it  seemed,  that 
a  point  of  order  of  some  kind  had  been  made ;  but,  the  chair 
man  not  having  interposed,  proceeded  with  his  remarks  as  if 
no  interruption  had  taken  place.  The  incident  was  given  in 
one  of  the  newspapers  precisely  as  it  had  occurred — a  record  of 
the  facts,  nothing  more.  Before  the  House  met,  on  a  subse 
quent  day,  the  entire  statement  was  denied.  No  such  pro 
ceeding,  it  was  asserted,  had  ever  taken  place.  When  the 
Journal  had  been  read,  the  Democratic  member  called  the  at 
tention  of  the  House  to  the  report,  and  the  Whig  member  rose 
in  his  place  and  vouched  for  its  perfect  fidelity,  thus  leaving 
the  responsibility  in  the  right  quarter.  This  is  but  one  of 
hundreds  of  instances  which  would  themselves  make  a  volume. 
We  will  cite  but  one  more  : 

When  the  question  was  about  to  be  taken  on  one  of  the  most 
intensely-exciting  issues  ever  presented  to  the  decision  of  the 
House,  a  member  from  Georgia  made  a  point  of  order,  not  of 
an  ordinary  character,  upon  which  he  held  some  colloquy  with 
the  speaker.  The  whole  matter  was  closely  reported.  On  the 
following  morning,  a  member  from  Alabama  called  upon  the 
reporter,  and  desired  him  to  correct  the  error  he  had  made  in 
assigning  the  point  of  order  and  the  part  in  the  conversation 
with  the  speaker  to  the  member  from  Georgia,  instead  of  to 
him,  the  member  from  Alabama.  This  was  not  the  first  time 
that  the  reporter,  from  similar  causes,  had  been  led  to  entertain 


12  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

doubts  of  his  own  existence.  He  had,  while  taking  the  notes, 
kept  his  attention  steadily  fixed  on  the  member  from  Georgia, 
who  was  addressing  the  chair  in  a  voice  always  audible,  never 
having  seen  or  heard  of  the  member  from  Alabama  throughout 
the  whole  affair.  Accordingly,  he  declined  to  make  the  correc 
tion,  but  proposed  to  bring  the  two  members  together,  and  let 
them  settle  the  paternity  in  the  best  way  they  could.  An  in 
terview  took  place  in  the  lobby.  The  reporter  simply  stated 
the  nature  of  the  difficulty,  and  requested  the  two  members  to 
adjust  it.  Each  declared  to  the  other  that  he  had  made  pre 
cisely  such  a  point  of  order,  at  precisely  such  a  stage  of  the 
proceedings,  and  had  held  precisely  such  a  colloquy  with  the 
speaker.  The  member  from  Georgia  declared  the  reporter  was 
right  as  to  the  name,  the  member  from  Alabama  insisting  that 
he  was  right  as  to  every  thing  but  the  name.  Each  appeared 
to  be  smitten  with  the  singular  absurdity  of  the  other's  claims, 
and  each  cast  a  curious  gaze  into  the  other's  eyes,  as  if  to  as 
certain,  beyond  a  doubt,  the  fact  of  their  individual  sanity. 
They  separated  in  mutual  astonishment.  No  light  was  ever 
thrown  upon  the  darkness.  The  record  stands  now  as  it  stood 
then.  We  have  ever  indulged  a  reverential  hope,  that  when 
the  pent-up  mysteries  of  a  thousand  years  shall  be  revealed,  the 
thick  cloud  which  envelops  this  transaction  may  likewise  be 
cleared  away. 

No  man  has  borne  with  more  imperturbable  philosophy  than 
Mr.  Holmes  the  misrepresentations  and  wrongs  resulting  from 
the  difficulty  to  which  we  have  adverted.  We  shall  be  excused 
for  giving  an  instance  of  his  general  temper  in  this  respect. 
A  veteran  reporter,  Arthur  J.  Stansbury,  whose  well-earned 
fame  is  co-extensive  with  the  Union,  attended,  professionally, 
the  New-England  Anniversary  dinner  in  Washington.  Mr. 
Holmes  was  present,  and,  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  was 
called  up  in  reply  to  a  toast.  The  reporter  was  sorely  em 
barrassed.  Catching  only  a  few  uncertain  words  here  and 
there,  he  managed  to  put  Mr.  Holmes  bodily  into  the  midst 
of  the  Revolution,  although  at  its  close  that  gentleman  was  yet 
among  the  generations  unborn ;  and,  by  way  of  explanation  of 
the  imperfect  sketch  of  the  whole  speech,  he  stated  the  usual 
extenuating  circumstance,  that  he  could  not  hear.  We  spoke 
with  Mr.  Holmes,  and  were  amused  at  the  stoical  pleasantry 


ISAAC    EDWARD   HOLMES.  13 

he  displayed.  He  said,  "It  is  ludicrous  enough ;  but  what 
could  you  expect?  The  reporter  was  both  drunk  and  deaf; 
of  course,  he  could  not  be  in  a  condition  to  report."  Knowing 
the  strictness  of  the  reporter's  temperance  principles,  and  the 
quick  sensibility  of  his  ear,  we  expressed  astonishment  at  the 
remark,  and  inquired  what  it  could  mean.  "  Why,"  said  Mr. 
Holmes,  "  I  saw  him  with  a  number  of  Champagne  bottles 
about  him,  so  I  take  it  for  granted  he  was  drunk,  and  that  he  is 
deaf  we  have  his  own  evidence,  for  he  says  in  his  report  that 
he  could  not  hear"  We  asked  no  further  explanations. 

Let  us  now  fall  back  on  the  regular  course  of  our  narrative. 
Isaac  E.  Holmes  was  born  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  on 
the  6th  of  April,  1796.  His  parents  were  of  English  origin. 
His  paternal  grandfather  removed  from  Boston  to  South  Caro 
lina,  and  was  one  of  the  king's  council  in  Charleston.  He  died 
before  the  Revolution,  leaving  three  sons,  all  of  whom  bore 
arms  for  their  country  in  the  war  of  '76.  Mr.  Holmes's  father 
was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Savannah,  and  was  an  officer 
until  the  end  of  the  war.  His  maternal  grandfather,  John  Ed 
wards,  was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  and  emigrated  when 
young  to  South  Carolina.  He  engaged  in  trade,  and  amassed 
wealth  in  Charleston.  He  was  an  early  asserter  of  colonial 
rights,  hesitated  not  to  peril  his  fortune,  and  was  one  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety  when  the  battle  of  Fort  Moultrie  was 
fought.  When  Charleston  fell,  he  was  offered  protection  by 
the  British  commander ;  which  having  refused,  he  was  sent, 
with  General  Gadsden  and  other  patriots,  to  the  dungeons  of 
St.  Augustine.  He  never  more  returned  to  his  wife  and  chil 
dren,  but  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing,  before  he  died,  that 
the  independence  of  his  country  was  established,  although  no 
treaty  of  peace  had  been  negotiated,  and  that  his  sons  were  all 
soldiers  in  the  cause  for  which  he  perished. 

Isaac  E .  was  educated  at  the  best  schools  of  Charleston.  At 
the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  transferred  to  the  private  tuition  of 
the  Reverend  Christopher  Gadsden,  then  rector  of  the  parish 
of  St.  John  Berkley,  and  now  episcopal  bishop  of  the  diocese 
of  South  Carolina — a  relative,  under  whose  instruction  he 
made  more  rapid  progress  in  his  studies  during  the  three  suc 
ceeding  years  than  he  had  made  in  all  the  previous  years  of 
his  scholarship.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  entered  Yale  College, 


14  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

where  he  remained  four  years,  and  where,  in  the  year  1815, 
he  graduated  with  the  honors  of  the  university.  In  the  sum 
mer  of  1814  he  received  the  promise  of  a  commission  in  the 
army,  which  he  was  to  join  in  the  next  campaign,  when  Mr. 
Monroe,  then  Secretary  of  War,  had  projected  a  descent  upon 
Canada  with  one  hundred  thousand  troops.  The  peace  came, 
however,  and  his  anticipated  laurels  never  bloomed.  He  then 
returned  to  his  native  city,  after  an  absence  of  four  years. 

He  devoted  himself  at  once  to  the  study  of  the  law,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1818,  having  about  that  time  been  mar 
ried  to  a  cousin,  Mary  Holmes.  His  attention  was  assiduously 
given  to  his  profession,  relieved,  however,  by  an  occasional  es 
say  in  the  journals  of  the  day.  When  Irving's  Sketch  Book 
made  its  appearance,  he  published,  anonymously,  an  imitation 
of  it,  under  the  title  of  "  Recreations  of  George  Taletell." 
This  book  was  much  commended,  and  the  author  inquired  for. 
A  friend,  to  whom  the  secret  of  the  authorship  had  been  in 
trusted,  revealed  it  in  an  unguarded  moment,  and  thus  defeat 
ed  a  design  which  Mr.  Holmes  had  formed  of  publishing  a  se 
ries  of  Carolina  tales,  or  descriptions  of  country  life  in  the 
South ;  for,  at  that  time,  a  notion  prevailed,  that  if  a  man 
turned  author  he  must  cease  to  be  a  lawyer. 

We  can  not  take  leave  of  these  early  sketches  without  trans 
ferring  to  our  pages  the  following  instance  of  negro  fidelity,  as 
given  in 

"THE  STORY  OF  TOM. 

"  At  the  surrender  of  Charleston,  many  of  the  ladies  retired 
into  the  country,  to  avoid  the  insolence  of  the  British  troops, 
and  enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  sometimes  seeing  their  husbands, 
who  then  waged  a  partisan  war  under  General  Marion.  But 
as  either  Tories  or  English  soldiers  were  stationed  over  that 
portion  of  country  to  which  they  had  retired,  it  was  not  with 
out  imminent  peril  the  officers  ever  ventured  from  the  Amer 
ican  camp  to  pay  a  visit  to  their  families.  On  one  of  these  oc 
casions,  however,  my  uncle,  who  the  night  before  had  reached 
his  plantation  in  safety,  was  sitting  at  table  with  his  wife  and 
children,  when  a  party  of  British  dragoons  were  discovered  rid 
ing  briskly  toward  the  house.  To  have  remained  would  have 
been  death  ;  yet  the  only  mode  of  escape  was  through  the  back 


ISAAC    EDWARD   HOLMES.  15 

door  into  the  garden,  and  thence  into  the  deep  shades  of  the 
swamp.  This  was  effected ;  but  the  enemy,  having  learned  the 
circumstance,  resolved  on  discovering  the  place  of  his  retreat, 
which  Tom  [who  was  the  body-servant  of  Mr.  Holmes's  uncle] 
was  supposed  to  be  acquainted  with,  and  was  so  in  reality. 
But  no  offer  could  induce  the  faithful  fellow  to  violate  his  trust 
- — no  threats  could  terrify  him  into  a  discovery ;  when,  at  last,  a 
sergeant,  exasperated  at  what  he  termed  the  fellow's  obstinacy, 
drew  out  a  pistol  and  shot  him  down.  Fortunately,  the  wound 
was  not  mortal,  and  Tom  yet  lives,  the  greatest  hero,  except 
his  master,  in  the  estimation  of  all  the  negroes." 

Mr.  Holmes  was  successful  at  the  bar.  In  1823,  an  insur 
rectionary  movement  among  the  negroes  excited  in  Charleston, 
for  the  first  time,  a  suspicion,  amounting,  in  many  minds,  to 
conviction,  that  there  was  a  party  in  the  North  tampering  with 
Southern  institutions.  Mr.  Holmes  associated  himself  with  a 
number  of  gentlemen,  mostly  Southern  planters,  and  formed  a 
society,  under  the  title  of  the  "  South  Carolina  Association." 
It  embraced  the  names  of  some  of  the  most  wealthy  and  dis 
tinguished  citizens.  The  object  was  to  watch  the  movements 
of  this  party  in  the  North,  and  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  ac 
cess  to  the  slave  population  of  emissaries  or  peddlers  of  pam 
phlets.  The  association  procured  from  the  Legislature  a  law 
prohibiting  the  entrance  of  free  persons  of  color  into  the  State, 
and  the  right  to  imprison  all  colored  seamen  who  might  be 
brought  into  its  waters.  The  third  section  of  this  law  was  in 
the  following  words : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That 
if  any  vessel  shall  come  into  any  port  or  harbor  of  this  state, 
from  any  other  state  or  foreign  port,  having  on  board  any  free 
negroes  or  persons  of  color,  as  cooks,  stewards,  mariners,  or  in 
any  other  employment  on  board  of  said  vessel,  such  free  ne 
groes  or  persons  of  color  shall  be  liable  to  be  seized  and  confined 
in  jail,  until  said  vessel  shall  clear  out  and  depart  from  this 
state ;  and  that,  when  said  vessel  is  ready  to  sail,  the  captain 
of  said  vessel  shall  be  bound  to  carry  away  the  said  free  negro 
or  free  person  of  color,  and  to  pay  the  expenses  of  his  deten 
tion  ;  and,  in  case  of  his  neglect  or  refusal  so  to  do,  he  shall  be 
liable  to  be  indicted,  and,  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  fined 


16  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

in  a  sum  not  less  than  one  thousand  dollars,  and  imprisoned 
not  less  than  two  months  ;  and  such  free  negroes  or  persons  of 
color  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  as  absolute  slaves,  and  sold  in 
conformity  with  the  provisions  of  the  act  passed  on  the  twen 
tieth  day  of  December,  1820,  aforesaid." 

Under  this  section,  a  colored  cook  was  taken  from  a  British 
merchantman  and  imprisoned.  His  majesty's  consul  at  Charles 
ton  applied  to  the  circuit  judge  of  the  United  States  for  a 
habeas  corpus.  Mr.  Holmes  was  engaged  as  counsel  to  resist 
the  liberation  of  tfye  cook,  and  to  maintain  the  constitutionality 
of  the  state  enactment.  The  subject  was  one  of  intense  ex 
citement.  The  question  at  issue  was  declared  to  be  the  ability 
of  self-protection.  Mr.  Holmes  took  strong  ground,  even  to 
the  extent  of  avowing  that,  "  rather  than  yield  this  necessary 
right,  he  would  see  the  Union  periled ;"  and  he  urged  firmness 
among  the  members  of  the  association,  without  regard  to  what 
might  be 'the  judicial  decision  of  the  question.  The  judge  de 
cided  in  favor  of  liberating  the  negro.  The  address  of  Mr. 
Holmes  was  considered  inflammatory  by  the  judge,  and  so  re 
ported  to  the  State  Department ;  and  Mr.  Holmes  was  accused 
of  speaking  of  disunion  as  a  light  matter  in  comparison  with 
the  obligation  of  maintaining  the  state  law.  This  led  to  a 
series  of  essays  in  the  "  Charleston  Mercury,"  written  by  the 
late  distinguished  Robert  J.  Turnbull  and  Mr.  Holmes,  signed 
"  Caroliniensis."  These  essays  attracted  much  attention.  The 
ablest  of  them,  Mr.  Holmes,  with  self-denying  modesty,  says 
were  written  by  Mr.  Turnbull.  The  latter  gentleman,  as  he 
advanced,  began  to  investigate  the  relation  of  the  states  to  the 
general  government— to  scrutinize  the  powers  exercised  by  it, 
and  to  look  into  the  Constitution  and  its  history,  until,  finally, 
he  commenced  a  series  of  essays  called  "The  Crisis,"  and  sign 
ed  "  Brutus."  In  this  publication  he  invited  Mr.  Holmes  to 
join,  who  declined  to  do  so,  exhorting  Mr.  Turnbull  to  write 
alone,  and  to  establish  his  own  fame.  The  essays  were  alto 
gether  the  w^ork  of  the  last-named  gentleman.  They  have 
been  published  in  a  large  pamphlet,  and  will  stand  a  perpetual 
memorial  of  the  talents,  the  virtues,  and  the  learning  of  their 
author.  The  tariff,  which  pressed  so  heavily  on  the  South,  was 
fully  examined ;  the  evils  inflicted  by  unlimited  Federal  legis 
lation  were  vividly  pictured ;  the  limited  powers  of  the  general 


ISAAC    EDWARD   HOLMES.  17 

government  were  defined ;  the  right  and  duty  of  the  states  to 
prevent  further  encroachments  were  graphically  outlined  ;  and 
the  attention  of  the  entire  South,  but  more  especially  of  South 
Carolina,  was  awakened.  Her  politicians  in  Congress  were 
described  as  men  lulled  to  sleep  by  the  genial  influences  of  the 
Federal  atmosphere.  Her  people  were  urged  to  take  the  mat 
ter  into  their  own  hands,  and  begin  the  work  of  reform.  Agi 
tation  was  thus  commenced,  and  resistance  was  openly  threat 
ened  by  the  people  of  South  Carolina  to  that  which  they  de 
nounced  as  the  unjust  taxation  of  Congress.  Thus  prepared 
by  these  celebrated  essays,  the  spirits  of  South  Carolina  called 
up  the  abler  spirits  who  represented  her  in  the  halls  of  Federal 
legislation,  and  the  answer  was,  "We  will  stand  by  our  little 
state  in  weal  or  in  woe." 

In  1826,  at  the  first  dawning  of  resistance,  Mr.  Holmes  was 
sent  to  the  State  Legislature.  In  1828,  the  tariff,  considered 
so  burdensome  by  the  South,  was  passed  by  Congress.  At  the 
following  session  of  the  State  Legislature,  Mr.  Holmes  moved 
that  the  state  should  "  at  once  resolve  upon  resistance,  and  refuse 
to  pay  the  unjust  duties."  This  he  proposed  should  be  done 
without  even  the  forms  of  a  convention,  but  simply  by  legisla 
tive  enactment.  The  resolution  was  defeated  by  an  overwhelm 
ing  majority,  only  twelve  members  voting  with  Mr.  Holmes. 
He  was  deemed  a  restless  spirit;  the  attention  of  the  people 
was  awakened ;  parties  were  formed,  under  the  denomination 
of  State-rights  men  and  Union  men;  and  at  the  next  elec 
tion  for  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Holmes  was  left  out  as  a  danger 
ous  man.  In  Charleston  the  Union  men  got  a  majority,  but 
the  agitation  still  went  on.  In  1832,  another  tariff  was  passed 
by  Congress,  and  another  state  election  held.  Mr.  Holmes  was 
returned,  and  voted  for  what  is  known  as  "  Nullification,"  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  had  pronounced  the  "  rightful  remedy,"  and 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  was  intended  by  the 
Constitution  as  a  remedy.  Our  readers  will  perceive  that,  in 
this  place,  it  is  not  our  business  to  enter  into  the  details  of  that 
great  struggle,  which  for  a  time  threatened  the  peace  of  the 
Union.  Those  details  belong  to  another  page  of  our  history. 

Mr.  Holmes,  declaring  that  he  cared  nothing  about  the  name, 
because  it  was  the  thing-  he  wanted,  went  for  resistance  under 
any  name.  He  avowed  that  when  rights  were  invaded  under 

VOL.  I.— B 


18  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  he  should  look  beyond  that  instru 
ment  for  a  remedy ;  that  he  would  recur  to  first  principles — 
to  state  rights ;  and  even,  if  need  be,  to  natural  rights.  As  he 
had  joined  in  the  law  to  nullify,  so  he  resolved  to  give  it  a  prac 
tical  test.  For  that  purpose,  he  imported  from  England  a  quan 
tity  of  woolens ;  bonded  them,  and,  when  the  bonds  became 
due,  refused  payment.  He  stood  suit,  and  pleaded  non  est 
factum.  Judgment  was  rendered  against  him.  He  still  re 
fused  to  pay,  and  the  United  States  marshal  levied  on  one  of 
his  houses.  But  the  Nullifiers  were  so  strong  that  the  friends 
of  the  general  government  did  not  bid.  General  Jackson,  on 
hearing  this  state  of  facts,  dismissed  the  marshal,  who  was  him 
self  a  Nullifier,  and  appointed  a  Union  man  in  his  place.  The 
house,  however,  was  never  sold,  nor  was  the  money  on  the 
judgment  ever  paid,  until  Mr.  Holmes  was  coming  to  Congress 
in  1839.  He  was  a  practical  Nullifier. 

After  the  Nullification  party  had  obtained  complete  ascend 
ency  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  it  was  proposed  to  adopt 
a  test  oath,  making  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  state,  as  par 
amount  to  the  obligation  to  the  United  States,  essential  to  hold 
ing  office.  To  this  Mr.  Holmes  objected,  because  he  had  im 
bibed  a  horror  of  test  oaths,  whether  religious  or  otherwise.  He 
believed  that  his  opponents,  the  Union  men,  were  as  honest  and 
as  patriotic  as  his  own  party ;  and  although  he  was  active  in 
doing  battle  with  them,  he  was  unwilling  to  manacle  them  in 
the  moment  of  victory.  For  this  he  was  denounced  by  his  own 
party,  but  he  stood  his  ground  firmly,  although  he  was  the  only 
Nullifier  who  voted  against  the  test.  By  the  Constitution  of 
the  State  of  South  Carolina,  no  amendment  to  that  instrument 
can  be  effected  unless  by  the  decision  of  two  Legislatures,  the 
object  being  to  afford  the  people  an  opportunity  of  passing  upon 
it  at  the  ballot-box.  When  the  election  was  approaching,  the 
Nullification  party  informed  Mr.  Holmes  that,  unless  he  agreed 
to  vote  for  the  test  oath,  he  should  not  be  nominated.  He 
replied  that  he  could  not  change  his  opinion,  and  that  he  would 
leave  the  party  unembarrassed  by  retiring  from  public  life. 
This  he  accordingly  did.  He  went  into  the  country,  turned 
planter,  and  remained  there  until  elected  to  the  national  House 
of  Representatives  in  1839.  Of  that  body  he  has  been  suc 
cessively  elected  a  member  up  to  this  time. 


ISAAC   EDWARD   HOLMES.  19 

During  this  period  of  service,  honorable  alike  to  himself  and 
his  constituents,  Mr.  Holmes  has  been  placed  respectively  at 
the  head  of  the  Committees  of  Commerce  and  of  the  Navy.  At 
the  second  session  of  the  twenty-seventh  Congress,  he  was  ap 
pointed  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs,  to  sup 
ply  one  of  the  vacancies  occasioned  by  a  then  recent  difficulty 
with  its  chairman.  [See  title,  JOHN  Q.  ADAMS.]  This  service 
Mr.  Holmes,  through  the  medium  of  the  following  letter,  de 
clined  : 

To  the  Honorable  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

11  Sir :  I  respectfully  beg  to  be  excused  from  serving  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  The  reasons  assigned 
by  those  gentlemen  whose  resignations  occasioned  the  vacancies 
recently  filled  by  the  appointment  of  other  Southern  members, 
appear  equally  applicable  to  all  representatives  of  slave-holding 
states,  and  were  deemed  satisfactory  by  the  House,  as  evinced 
in  the  unhesitating  acceptance  of  the  aforesaid  resignations. 
I  would  further  observe,  that  the  chairman  of  said  committee, 
having  applied  to  my  constituents  the  most  opprobrious  epithets, 
and  charged  all  the  delegation  from  South  Carolina  with  having 
banded  in  a  base  conspiracy  to  destroy  his  good  name,  I  feel 
convinced  that  the  public  service  would  not  be  advanced,  or  the 
harmony  of  the  committee  promoted,  by  the  councils  of 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"I.  E.  HOLMES." 

The  letter  having  been  read,  the  record  says, 
"  The  question  was  taken,  and  Mr.  Holmes  was  excused  by  a 
vote  almost  unanimous." 

He  is  a  Democrat  of  the  State-rights  party.  He  asserts 
the  doctrine  of  free  trade.  But  he  claims  to  be  a  Conservative, 
not  a  Revolutionist.  He  thinks  the  progress  of  the  age  is  rapid 
enough,  and  looks  to  the  good  sense  and  inertness  of  the  sub 
stantial  and  well-educated  portion  of  the  people  to  stay  the 
headlong  advance  of  the  masses.  Party  ties  bind  him  only  to 
the  extent  to  which  his  own  intelligent  judgment  acknowledges 
their  force.  Hence  he  has  never  been  able  to  go  with  any 
party  to  its  ultimate.  He  supports  the  executive  power  when 
ever  he  deems  that  there  is  danger  from  the  encroachments  of 


20  HISTORYOF   CONGRESS. 

the  representative.  He  opposes  the  President  when  he  would 
absorb  all  power  in  the  executive  will.  He  considers  the  United 
States  government  a  confederation  as  regards  all  domestic  con 
cerns,  and  as  a  government  so  far  as  it  represents  our  inter 
national  concerns.  He  looks  upon  the  ordinance  of  1787  as 
reserving  the  great  waters  of  the  West  as  public  highways, 
and  therefore  as  giving  power  to  the  general  government  to  im 
prove  them  for  national  purposes.  He  claims  to  have  been 
the  first  to  take  that  ground  in  Congress,  and  was  thanked  for 
it  by  Mr.  Weller,  in  the  name  of  the  West,  on  the  floor  of 
the  House.  His  position,  as  explained  on  a  proposition  to  ap 
propriate  money  for  the  improvement  of  the  Mississippi  and  its 
tributaries,  has  been  this :  that  the  general  government  had  a 
right  to  extend  its  jurisdiction  to  facilitate  the  carrying  of  com 
mercial  articles  down  those  rivers  ;  a  proposition  proved  by  the 
ordinance  of  1787.  This  ordinance  provided  that  the  Missis 
sippi  should  be  free  to  all  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  states  that  should  thereafter  come  into  the  Union,  and 
should  not  be  molested  or  interfered  with  by  any  particular 
states.  Now,  if  the  government  could  not  improve  this  river, 
one  of  two  things  followed :  either  that  the  jurisdiction  which 
it  had  in  consequence  of  the  ordinance  did  not  extend  to  the 
improvement  of  the  river,  or  that  the  ordinance  was  unconsti 
tutional.  What  was  the  ordinance  ?  It  was  a  contract  made 
by  the  State  of  Virginia  with  the  United  States,  then  consist 
ing  of  thirteen  states ;  and  all  the  essentials  to  a  valid  contract 
were  embraced  hi  it,  viz.,  the  subject  contracted  for,  the  condi 
tions,  and  the  power  of  the  parties  to  contract.  Nobody  doubted 
the  power  of  the  parties  to  contract,  and,  in  that  view,  the  com 
pact  was  legal.  He  supposed  that  no  man  would  doubt  that 
it  was  lawful  for  the  United  States  to  contract  with  the  State 
of  Virginia  for  the  land  granted  in  the  compact,  and  to  parcel 
it  out  into  states  and  territories.  Then,  if  the  State  of  Vir 
ginia  had  a  right  to  contract  for  the  land,  and  the  United  States 
to  receive  it,  unless  the  conditions  took  place,  the  land  must  go 
back  to  the  State  of  Virginia.  Either  that  whole  country  now 
parceled  out  into  states  and  territories  must  revert  to  the 
State  of  Virginia,  or  these  rivers  were  common  highways,  the 
improvement  of  which  fell  within  the  jurisdiction  of  this  gov 
ernment.  The  proposition  being  laid  down,  he  proved  it  thus : 


ISAAC    EDWARD   HOLMES.  21 

The  United  States  contracted  to  receive  this  territory ;  but  were 
they  not  to  give  reciprocal  conditions  for  it  ?  Surely  ;  and  the 
conditions  were,  that  these  rivers  should  be  common  to  all  the 
people  of  the  Union,  divesting  Virginia  of  her  jurisdiction. 
Moreover,  Virginia,  when  she  parted  with  her  jurisdiction,  did 
not  intend  that  any  of  her  sister  states  should  have  it,  and  so 
provided  in  the  compact.  It  followed,  therefore,  that  the  gov 
ernment,  in  not  complying  with  the  condition,  destroyed  the 
ordinance.  And,  further,  no  state  having  the  right  to  improve 
this  highway,  and  no  state  having  jurisdiction  over :  it,  the 
United  States  had  exclusive  jurisdiction,  and  was  bound  to  im 
prove  it.  It  must  be  improved  by  the  government  of  the  Union, 
or  not  at  all. 

If  the  constitutionality  of  these  appropriations  was  thus  clear, 
Mr.  Holmes  regarded  the  expediency  of  them  as  equally  so ; 
and,  looking  to  the  immense  loss  of  property  and  life  resulting 
from  the  obstructions  in  this  navigation,  he  has  been  willing  at 
all  times  to  vote  any  amount  of  money  that  might  be  required 
for  their  improvement. 

While  entertaining  these  opinions,  he  has  resisted  appropri 
ations  by  Congress  for  a  general  system  of  internal  improve 
ments  which  embraced  every  section  and  every  interest.  He 
has  contended  that,  if  carried  out,  it  would  require  millions  for 
its  commencement,  and  untold  millions  for  its  prosecution. 
The  treasury  might  be  improved  by  all  the  means  and  facilities 
within  the  power  of  Congress  ;  the  tariff  might  be  increased  ; 
the  public  lands  put  up  at  public  auction ;  direct  taxation  even 
might  be  resorted  to  ;  and  yet  all  would  not  suffice  to  carry  on 
this  system  to  the  extent  which  had  been  carved  out.  He  had 
hoped  that  the  system  had  received  its  quietus  years  ago ;  but 
it  seemed,  like  the  giant  of  old,  to  have  risen  with  fresh  vigor 
from  its  fall ;  and  he  warned  gentlemen  that,  if  allowed  to  go 
on,  as  he  feared  it  would,  the  most  disastrous  consequences 
would  ensue.  In  his  opinion,  there  was  a  growing  disposition 
to  make  ihis  Union  of  States  a  vast  consolidated  empire,  and 
to  take  from  the  people  the  means  of  controlling  their  expendi 
tures.  The  consequence  would  be,  that  the  public  treasury 
must  be  filled  per  fas  aut  nefas,  and  that  the  whole  country 
would  be  bribed  with  the  money  unjustly  wrung  from  them. 

An  allusion  made  by  Mr.  Douglas,  in  the  twenty-eighth  Con- 


22  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

gress,  to  the  course  of  Mr.  Holmes  on  this  particular  branch 
of  public  policy,  elicited  the  following  reply  : 

"  The  gentleman  from  Illinois,"  said  Mr.  Holmes,  u  in  default 
of  legitimate  argument  to  justify  his  course,  resorted  to  the 
more  effectual  mode  of  argument,  drawn,  not  from  premises,  but 
from  men,  and  voted  under  the  sevenfold  shield  of  the  Telamon 
Ajax.  Jackson  said  so,  ergo  it  is  so.  That  was  the  gentle 
man's  mode  of  reasoning. 

"  Mr.  Douglas  interposing,  said  that  he  would  refer  to  an 
other  authority,  John  C.  Calhoun. 

"  Mr.  Holmes.  '  I  am  no  man's  man.  I  wiH  neither  defer  to 
General  Jackson  nor  to  John  C.  Calhoun,  when  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  country  is  concerned.  And  I  will  tell  gentlemen 
another  thing :  if  I  do  not  possess  the  great  light  which  burns 
with  so  much  effulgence  about  those  great  men,  yet  I  will  not 
attempt  to  illuminate  the  pathway  of  rivers  by  merely  lighting 
a  loco-foeo  match. 

"  The  gentleman  has  attacked  me  because,  at  the  commence 
ment  of  the  session,  I  advocated  the  improvement  of  those 
great  highways  of  the  West,  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi. 
The  gentleman,  then,  will  not  allow  of  my  assistance  at  all ;  for 
it  seems  that,  unless  I  go  to  the  whole  extent  for  national  im 
provement  with  the  zeal  of  a  Western  man  on  one  side,  or  of  a 
member  of  the  Federal  party  on  the  other,  I  had  better  stand 
out  of  the  way  altogether.  I  asserted  that  the  appropriation  for 
the  improvement  of  harbors  was  unconstitutional ;  and,  at  the 
same  time,  I  also  asserted  that  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Rivers, 
as  contradistinguished  from  other  rivers,  are  great  national 
highways,  over  which  the  authority  of  Congress  did  extend. 
My  position  was  this :  that  whenever  there  was  a  proprietary 
right  in  the  United  States,  and  not  in  a  state — and  I  beg  gentle 
men  to  mark  the  distinction — it  was  the  bounden  duty  of  the 
United  States  to  improve  those  rivers,  and  keep  them  open  for 
the  navigation  of  the  whole  country. 

"  l  Such  was  the  argument  and  illustration  of  the  Tela 
mon  Ajax  behind  whose  shield  the  gentleman  retired.  But 
General  Jackson,  though  he  possessed  great  tenacity  of  will, 
was  nevertheless  not  tenacious  of  a  particular  line  of  policy ; 
for  I  must  say  that  I  have  never  known  a  public  man  whose 
policy  has  varied  so  much  and  so  often,  in  accordance  with  his 


ISAAC    EDWARD   HOLMES.  23 

exact  position  at  the  time,  as  General  Jackson's.  In  one  re 
spect,  General  Jackson  had  walked  in  the  footsteps  of  his  illus 
trious  predecessor,  and  his  immediate  predecessor  too ;  for  he 
advocated  the  system  of  internal  improvements  to  the  fullest 
extent,  and  never  faltered  in  his  career  till  he  found  another 
great  man  running  the  same  race  with  him,  and  then  he  tack 
ed  about  and  took  another  course.  But,  withont  dwelling  on 
this  part  of  the  subject,  I  will  put  the  question  to  the  Demo 
crats  of  the  West  whether,  in  going  beyond  the  great  national 
highways  (the  Ohio  and  Mississippi),  they  are  not  endeavoring 
to  revive  the  very  system  of  internal  improvements  which  Gen 
eral  Jackson  destroyed  by  his  veto  ?  I  say  destroyed ;  but  I 
fear,  from  the  connection  I  now  see  between  the  Tariff  party 
and  the  Internal  Improvement  party,  that  the  system  was  only 
sleeping,  and  that  new  life  and  vigor  are  now  about  to  be  in 
fused  into  it.  I  have  great  reason  to  fear  this  when  I  hear  a 
gentleman  invoking  the  name  of  General  Jackson  to  sustain 
this  Juggernaut  system  of  unjust  taxation,  and  that  other  great 
system  of  unjust  expenditure.  Gentlemen  who  support  this 
system  may  draw  distinctions,  if  they  please,  between  them 
selves  and  the  Whig  party,  but 

"  '  "  Optics  sharp  it  takes,  I  ween, 
To  see  what  is  not  to  be  seen." 

Those  measures,  which  the  WTiigs  proclaimed  to  be  in  accord 
ance  with  their  cardinal  principles,  and  which  were  defeated  by 
the  veto  of  General  Jackson,  are  now  about  to  be  revived  by 
the  Democratic  party ;  and  well  might  my  friend  (Mr.  Rhett) 
say  that  the  Whigs  cheered  them  on  in  the  work.  When  I  see 
gentlemen  from  the  West  come  in  and  tell  us  that  every  river 
— no  matter  where  may  be  its  source — no  matter  through  what 
territory  it  flows — is  a  proper  object  of  internal  improvement ; 
and  when  I  see  that,  by  making  a  log-rolling  bill,  in  which  ev 
ery  part  of  the  Union  is  to  have  its  share,  so  as  to  carry  it 
through  the  House,  the  old,  exploded  system  of  internal  im 
provement  is  to  be  revived,  I  confess  I  have  lost  all  hope  of  see 
ing  an  end  put  to  the  odious  system  of  unjust  taxation  and  ex 
travagant  expenditures.  I  beseech  gentlemen  to  pause,  and 
not  to  suffer  themselves  to  be  seduced  by  any  local  appropria 
tions  into  a  violation  of  the  Constitution.' 


24  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  McClelland  desired  to  ask  on  what  principle  the  gen 
tleman  based  his  vote  for  an  appropriation  for  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi,  and  denied  appropriations  to  the  lakes,  which  the 
Western  people  said  were  essential  for  their  defense  ?  What 
distinction  did  the  gentleman  draw  between  appropriations  for 
light-houses  on  the  lakes  and  appropriations  for  harbors  ? 

"  Mr.  Holmes.  *  In  my  opinion,  Congress  has  a  right  to  re 
move  obstructions  in  the  lakes,  for  the  reason  that  the  jurisdic 
tion  is  in  the  United  States ;  but  Congress  can  not  improve  the 
harbors,  because  the  jurisdiction  is  in  the  states.  For  the  same 
reason,  Congress  can  improve  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  ; 
for  the  United  States  possessing  proprietary  and  territorial  ju 
risdiction  over  them,  the  states  can  not  improve  them  if  Con 
gress  does  not.  But  Congress  can  not  improve  the  Illinois 
River,  for  it  does  not  possess  jurisdiction  over  it ;  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  that  river  is  in  the  states  through  which  it  flows,  and 
they  have  the  power  to  improve  it.'  " 

Acting  upon  these  convictions,  the  veto  of  the  President  on 
the  River  and  Harbor  Bill  of  the  first  session  of  the  last  Con 
gress  was  hailed  by  Mr.  Holmes  with  undisguised  satisfaction. 
He  spoke  of  the  "  blasting  influence"  which  the  passage  of  such 
a  bill  into  a  law  would  have  had,  after  the  "glorious  deeds" 
which  that  Congress  had  consummated.  It  was  truly  refresh 
ing,  he  thought,  to  have  an  executive  who,  in  spite  of  all  the 
clamors  with  which  not  only  his  opponents,  but  a  large  portion 
of  those  who  came  into  the  national  Legislature  upon  princi 
ples  necessarily  involving  enmity  to  internal  improvements  and 
extravagance,  would  assail  him  for  throwing  himself  upon  prin 
ciple,  and  doing  a  deed  which  showed  him  to  have  nerve,  and 
fit  to  be  at  the  head  of  this  confederated  empire,  able  and  will 
ing  to  throw  back  the  waves  of  extravagance  which  tended  to 
destroy  the  energies  and  liberties  of  the  people. 

The  record  contains  the  following  passages : 

"Is  the  party  with  which  I  act,"  said  Mr.  Holmes,  "the 
Democratic  party  par  excellence  ?  Is  it  a  party  of  principle  ? 
And  if  it  is  a  party  of  principle,  with  what  face  can  they  rise 
on  this  floor,  and  reprobate  the  veto  which  supported  that  very 
principle  on  which  the  Baltimore  Convention  acted  ? 

"  A  voice.  '  Did  you  take  part  in  the  proceedings  of  that  Con 
vention  ?' 


ISAAC   EDWARD   HOLMES.  25 

"  Mr.  Holmes.  '  I  was  not  in  the  Baltimore  Convention.  We 
of  South  Carolina  held  that  the  formal  declaration  of  our  creed 
was  unnecessary,  and  the  reason  is  obvious :  it  is  founded  on 
the  eternal  principles  of  free  trade,  the  peace  of  the  country, 
and  democracy  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole — not  a  part,  the 
North  and  West.  I  stated  distinctly,  that  if  the  Democratic 
party  intend  to  stand  together,  they  must  not  divide  off  in  this 
manner  whenever  there  comes  a  local  question  of  harbors  and 
rivers,  and  improvements  at  each  man's  door.  What  is  this 
government  ?  It  is  a  confederacy  to  do  what  the  states  indi 
vidually  can  not  do ;  and  had  the  idea  been  entertained  that 
they  were  to  do  what  any  state  could  do,  the  South  never  would 
have  entered  into  the  confederacy,  which,  under  this  system, 
would  create  a  central  action,  like  the  sun  in  mid-heaven,  draw 
ing  the  whole  moisture  from  the  South,  and  throwing  it  upon 
the  North  and  West.  We  came  into  this  confederation  to  do 
equal  justice  to  all,  particular  favors  to  none.  But  this  system, 
if  carried  out,  will  give  to  the  North  and  West  additional  ex 
penditures  to  those  already  drawn  from  the  South,  and  which 
we,  by  producing  the  largest  amount  of  export,  which  is  the 
basis  of  import,  furnish  the  ability  to  pay.  We  have  given 
peace  to  the  country  by  doing  justice  on  the  Oregon  Question  ; 
or,  if  not  peace,  a  glorious  struggle  between  monopoly  and  lib 
erty.  Let  it  come.  Sir,  we  have  burst  the  Bastile  of  restric 
tion,  and  unfettered  the  energies  of  the  people ;  and  let  us  now 
stop,  by  that  veto  and  the  sustaining  thereof,  this  extravagance 
of  expenditure,  that  we  may  return  to  our  constituents  with 
the  consolation  that  we  have  done  what  our  fathers  intended 
when  they  made  this  government,  and  designed  it  to  be  one  of 
universal  blessings,  not  of  particular  curses.'  ' 

Mr.  Holmes  has  been  the  true  and  steady  friend  of  the  West 
Point  Academy — most  its  friend  when  friendship  most  was 
needed.  And  on  one  occasion,  when  that  institution  was  so 
vigorously  attacked  by  certain  Western  Democrats  as  to  jeop 
ard  its  existence,  he  was  complimented  as  having  saved  it  by 
his  speech.  Not  less  tried,  and,  at  one  time,  scarcely  less 
needed,  has  been  his  friendship  for  the  navy.  And  when,  two 
years  ago,  Mr.  Bancroft,  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  desired  to 
dismiss  one  third  of  its  officers,  and  otherwise  to  cripple  that 
cherished  arm  of  our  national  defense,  Mr.  Holmes  called  upon 


26  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  President,  and  remonstrated  with  him.  The  project  was 
finally  abandoned.  He  took  ground,  also,  against  any  reduc 
tion  of  the  army,  and  opposed  the  appointment  of  Colonel  Ben- 
ton  as  lieutenant-general  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 
In  a  speech  which  he  made  at  the  end  of  the  last  session,  he 
declared  that  the  bill  creating  that  new  office  was  designed  to 
disgrace  General  Taylor,  who  had,  by  his  unexampled  success 
es,  and  in  spite  of  the  administration,  preserved  it  from  dis 
grace.  He  declared  that  if  any  administration  in  England  or 
on  the  Continent  had  been  sustained  under  all  their  difficulties 
by  such  gallant  battles  as  had  lately  occurred  on  our  Southern 
frontier  and  in  Mexico,  the  gratitude  of  the  nation  would  have 
been  commensurate  with  the  extent  of  the  kingdom.  His 
course  was  influenced  by  no  personal  opposition  to  any  of  the 
officers,  or  any  regard  to  the  question  whether  they  were  in  the 
Whig  or  Democratic  ranks ;  but  he  insisted  that  if  such  a  blow 
as  it  was  proposed  to  inflict  should  be  perpetrated,  it  would  be 
a  blow  at  the  spirit,  the  honor,  and  the  virtue  of  the  whole  army. 
It  was  no  more  nor  less,  he  thought,  than  a  proposition  to  place 
civil  politics  and  party  politics  in  the  van  of  all  the  honor  and 
all  the  bravery  which  adorned  our  army. 

"  In  Europe,"  he  said,  "  men  are  educated  for  the  military 
profession ;  and  it  has  been  the  policy  of  our  fathers  to  have 
their  armies  led  by  men  properly  trained  to  the  military  art, 
as  well  as  in  civil  accomplishments ;  and  yet  now,  because 
General  Taylor,  who  has  never  thought  of  the  presidency,  or 
of  running  the  race  to  obtain  it,  but  whose  whole  life  has  been 
spent  in  camps  and  in  the  field,  who  has  won  victory  after  vic 
tory,  and  added  more  to  the  national  glory  than  any  other  man 
now  living,  happens  unfortunately  to  be  cursed  with  the  name 
of  '  Whig,'  he  must  be  superseded,  and  publicly  dishonored  and 
disgraced. 

u  There  are  times  when  good  men  feel  that  party  is  nothing, 
and  that  country  is  all.  But,  if  what  we  read  in  Greek  and 
Roman  story  is  true,  it  seems  as  if  the  time  is  fast  coming  in 
this  republic  when  public  virtue  will  be  a  crime,  and  to  have 
promoted  the  glory  of  the  government  will  but  insure  a  man's 
disgrace,  and  prepare  the  way  for  hie  ruin." 

At  the  very  moment  when  politicians  were  willing  to  dispar 
age  the  services  which  General  Taylor  had  rendered  to  his  coun- 


ISAAC   EDWARD   HOLMES.  27 

try,  Mr.  Holmes  held  the  sagacity  and  wisdom  of  that  illustri 
ous  man  in  so  high  appreciation,  as  to  be  one  of  the  first  to 
shadow  forth  for  him  the  political  elevation  which  has  since 
been  anticipated,  and  hoped  for,  in  so  many  quarters. 

He  was  one  of  the  early  advocates  of  the  annexation  of  Tex 
as,  and,  if  we  recollect  right,  was  the  first  to  speak  of  that 
measure  in  the  House  as  "  the  settled  policy"  of  the  govern 
ment  under  Mr.  Tyler's  administration.  [See  title,  ROBERT  C. 
WINTHROP.]  He  believes  the  Mexican  war  to  be  unnecessary. 
He  abhors  the  Wilmot  proviso ;  so  much  so,  that  he  declares 
he  would  rather  see  the  Union  dissolved  than  the  spirit  of  that 
resolution  carried  into  effect.  The  principles  upon  which  he 
would  terminate  the  struggle  are  found  in  a  series  of  resolu 
tions  which  he  introduced  at  an  early  day  in  the  present  session : 

"  Whereas  this  confederacy  was  formed  for  the  establishment 
of  a  perfect  union,  and  promoting  the  general  welfare,  it  be 
comes  those  who  are  intrusted  with  regulating  the  government 
so  to  direct  its  movements  as  to  perfect  that  union  and  advance 
that  welfare ;  and  whereas  the  prosperity,  felicity,  safety,  per 
haps  national  existence,  are  involved  in  the  invasive  war  we  are 
now  prosecuting  against  our  sister  republic  of  Mexico,  this  im 
portant  consideration  should  lead  us  to  the  adoption  of  such 
measures  as  may  result  in  doing  justice  to  Mexico,  and  promo 
ting  the  lasting  welfare  of  the  United  States  ;  therefore,  be  it 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  inexpedient  for  the  United  States  gov 
ernment  so  to  use  its  conquests  as  to  extinguish  the  national 
existence  of  Mexico,  but  that  it  should  so  avail  itself  of  the  vic 
tories  it  has  achieved  as  to  establish,  by  treaty  stipulations,  a 
lasting  peace  with  Mexico  upon  the  basis  of  an  entire  free  trade 
between  the  two  republics,  such  as  exists  between  the  several 
states  of  this  Union. 

"  Resolved^  That  we  agree  to  recede  all  the  territory  we  have 
taken  from  Mexico  beyond  the  Rio  Grande,  upon  the  condition 
that  our  citizens  have  free  ingress  and  egress  into  and  from 
New  Mexico  and  Upper  California,  the  privilege  of  holding 
lands,  exercising  their  religion,  and  of  carrying  on  trade  as  fully 
as  any  of  the  Mexican  citizens  of  those  provinces. 

"  Resolved^  That  a  further  condition  be  the  right  of  entry 
and  departure  of  our  shipping,  both  national  and  domestic,  into 
and  from  the  Mexican  ports,  as  unrestricted  as  in  the  ports  of 


28  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  United  States,  with  all  the  rights  of  breaking  bulk,  taking 
in  and  discharging,  purchasing  and  selling  of  cargoes,  as  in  our 
own  ports. 

"  Resolved,  further.  That  we  stipulate  for  a  right  of  con 
structing  a  railroad  from  the  United  States  to  the  harbor  of 
San  Diego,  and  to  any  town  in  New  Mexico  or  California. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  keep  possession  of  the 
Castle  of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa  as  a  hostage  for  the  fulfillment  of 
the  stipulations  above  recited." 

On  the  Oregon  Question  [see  title,  S.  A.  DOUGLAS]  he  took 
resolute  ground  against  the  extreme  claim : 

"Oregon,"  he  said,  "what  is  it?  Is  it  the  quality  of  her 
soil  ?  Is  it  the  wealth  that  is  contained  in  her  mineral  bosom, 
the  capaciousness  of  her  bays,  or  the  clearness  and  rapidity  of 
her  streams,  that  have  invested  her  with  these  magic  hues  ?  I 
have  listened  intently  for  the  reasons,  and  I  do  most  conscien 
tiously  declare  that  the  whole  of  them  have  been  resolved  into 
two  simple  propositions :  first,  that  the  title  is  unquestioned 
and  unquestionable ;  secondly,  that  the  area  of  freedom  must 
be  extended.  And  upon  these  two  abutments  is  to  be  sprung 
a  great  arch  that  is  to  cover  the  whole  question  with  all  its 
mighty  influence.  Unquestionable  and  unquestioned  !  Why, 
sir,  it  is  not  unquestionable,  because  it  has  been  questioned ; 
and  it  ever  will  be  questioned,  because  it  ever  will  be  question 
able.  I  deny  in  toto  any  right,  any  claim  to  that  territory,  or 
to  any  part  or  parcel  thereof,  that  does  not  appertain  with  equal 
force  and  efficiency  to  the  power  of  Great  Britain ;  and  if  I  do 
not,  by  as  fair  reasoning  as  I  can  bring,  demonstrate  this  posi 
tion,  I  am  willing  to  give  up,  now  and  forever,  any  claims  to 
logical  powers." 

Again,  speaking  of  that  joint  occupation  of  the  territory 
against  which  a  resistless  current  had  suddenly  and  violently 
set  in,  he  remarked : 

"  Gentlemen  say — and  to  most  of  them  it  is  a  vision  of  hor 
ror—that  the  American  and  the  British  people  would  be  com 
pelled  to  live  upon  the  same  soil  under  different  laws.  Sir,  to 
my  unassisted  vision,  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  animat 
ing,  and  soul-stirring  conceptions  that  the  eye  of  imagination 
can  contemplate.  I  had  hoped  that  the  experiment  of  a  joint 
occupancy  was  about  to  foreshadow  an  apocalyptic  event ;  that 


ISAAC    EDWARD   HOLMES.  29 

nations  would  hereafter  have  dwelt  together  in  unity ;  that  no 
longer  '  lands  intersected  by  a  narrow  frith  would  make  ene 
mies  of  nations,  which  else,  like  kindred  drops,  had  melted  into 
one ;'  that  from  the  bosom  of  that  far-off  region  would  have 
risen  the  morning  star  of  peace,  that  would  have  expanded  un 
til  its  lustrous  beauty  should  have  faded  in  the  brighter  glory 
of  the  millennial  day.  Sir,  that  vision  is  passed — it  is  gone. 
1  Oregon  is  ours,  and  we  must  have  it !'  ' 

Mr.  Holmes  is  a  gentleman  of  accomplished  manners,  and  a 
scrupulous  sense  of  honor.  His  hospitable  disposition  and  fine 
social  qualities  are  admitted  wherever  he  is  known.  He  is  a 
man  of  high  independence  of  character — prompt — decided — 
self-sustained.  As  a  debater,  he  is  eloquent  and  figurative — 
occasionally,  perhaps,  tending  toward  the  transcendental.  He 
is  known  to  indulge  himself  sometimes  in  mystical  philosophy. 
Asserting  always  the  utmost  freedom  of  discussion — -illustrat 
ing  practically  in  his  course  the  great  truth  that  error  is  not  to 
be  feared  "while  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it" — nothing 
seems  more  impracticable  than  to  procure  a  vote  from  him  in 
favor  of  the  ordinary  modes  by  which  debate  is  suppressed  or 
cut  off.  His  dislike  to  them  appears  to  be  almost  as  instinct 
ive  and  as  mortal  as  the  aversion  of  Henry  A.  Wise  to  majori 
ties  is  once  said  to  have  been.  Mr.  Adams — himself  the  inex 
orable  foe  of  all  gags — handsomely  acknowledged  this  peculiar 
attribute  on  a  certain  occasion.  The  latter  had  presented  a 
memorial  purporting  to  come  from  citizens  of  Georgia,  setting 
forth  that  they  considered  it  a  great  grievance  that  he  should 
have  been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Re 
lations,  because,  although  they  admitted  him  to  possess  patri 
otism,  talents,  and  all  the  qualifications  of  a  statesman  in  the 
most  eminent  degree,  yet  they  believed  that  he  was  afflicted 
with  a  species  of  monomania  on  all  subjects  connected  with 
people  as  dark  as  a  Mexican,  and  was  not,  therefore,  fit  to  be 
intrusted  with  the  business  of  our  relations  with  Mexico.  The 
memorial  was  forwarded  to  Mr.  Adams  himself  for  presentation. 

Mr.  Adams  claimed  to  be  heard  in  his  own  defense.  The 
right  or  privilege,  whichsoever  it  might  be,  was  contested,  but 
by  none  more  stoutly  maintained  than  by  Mr.  Holmes.  The 
record  says : 

"  Mr.  Adams  here  read  the  letter  [transmitting  the  memo- 


30  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

rial],  which  was  dated  at  Clarksville,  Georgia,  10th  of  Decem 
ber,  1841,  and  commented  on  it  as  he  proceeded.  The  writer 
gave  as  the  reason  why  the  petition  was  transmitted  to  Mr.  Ad- 
ams  instead  of  one  of  the  Georgia  delegation,  that  the  petition 
ers  were  unwilling  to  be  the  cause  of  any  unkindness  between 
Mr.  Adams  and  the  gentleman  who  might  present  it. 

"It  was  a  deliberate  thing,"  Mr.  Adams  said,  "and  was 
signed  by  the  secretary  of  the  meeting. 
. "  Mr.  Warren.  '  Read  the  name  of  the  secretary.' 

"  Mr.  Adams.  '  It  is  James  Playfair,  and  his  name  corre 
sponds  entirely  with  his  character.  There  was  fair  play  in  the 
course  he  had  pursued,  and  he  honored  him  for  it.' 

"  Mr.  Habersham.  i  There  is  no  such  person  in  the  county.' 

"  Mr.  Adams.  '  The  gentleman  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Haber 
sham)  said  yesterday  that  there  were  no  such  persons  in  the 
county  as  the  signers  of  the  petition.' 

"  Mr.  Habersham.  '  I  said  that  J  knew  of  no  such  persons  in 
my  county ;  and  certainly  there  is  no  such  person  in  it  as 
James  Playfair.' 

"  Mr.  Adams.  '  The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  (Mr. 
Holmes)  said  he  did  not  believe  the  petition  to  be  a  hoax,  and 
that  I  ought  to  be  heard  in  reply  to  it.' 

"  Mr.  Holmes  wished  to  explain  what  he  did  say.  It  was, 
{ that,  hoax  or  no  hoax,  courtesy  required  that  the  gentleman 
should  be  heard.' 

"  Mr.  Adams.  '  Well,  sir,  I  thank  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina.  I  perceive  that  he  belongs  to  the  "  Playfair"  family.' 

"Mr.  Adams  then  proceeded  with  his  comments  on  the  let 
ter" 


' 


LAHM,  SAMUEL, 


J.S  a  new  member.  He  was  born  on  the  22d  of  April,  1812, 
near  a  small  village  called  Leitersburg,  in  Washington  county, 
Maryland.  His  mother  still  resides  in  that  village.  His  fa 
ther,  John  Lahm,  died  some  years  ago. 

He  is  of  German  descent,  his  parents  having  emigrated  from 
Germany.  His  father  was  a  mechanic,  but  during  the  last  ten 
or  twelve  years  of  his  life  cultivated  a  small  farm  adjoining  the 
village,  and  also  kept  a  public  house.  When  the  family  re 
moved  to  the  tavern,  Samuel  was  about  twelve  years  of  age, 
and  from  that  time  until  his  eighteenth  year  he  was  compelled 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  ostler  and  shoeblack,  his  father  keep 
ing  no  boy  about  the  house  but  himself.  About  this  time  he 
was  reprimanded — severely  and  justly,  he  says — for  some  bad 
conduct,  and  ran  away  from  home.  He  went  to  a  small  village 
in  Franklin  county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  made  an  engage 
ment  as  clerk  in  a  small  dry  goods  establishment.  He  remain 
ed  there  three  months,  after  which  he  returned  home,  with  the 
understanding  that  he  should  be  permitted  to  devote  some  time 
to  acquiring  an  education. 

An  individual  of  the  name  of  King,  previously  from  Balti 
more,  at  that  time  taught  school  about  two  miles  from  the  vil 
lage,  and,  having  contracted  something  of  a  liquor  bill,  Mr. 
Lahm's  father  concluded  that  he  should  take  that  out  in  school 
ing.  He  continued,  accordingly,  at  the  school  about  two  years, 
at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  tolerably  well  acquainted  with 
most  of  the  branches  of  a  common  English  education.  He  be 
came  sensible  of  the  necessity  of  doing  something  which  would 
enable  him  to  earn  a  living,  and  determined  to  learn  a  trade ; 

31 


32  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

but  his  father  absolutely  refused  to  let  him  do  so,  promising 
that  in  a  few  years  he  would  assist  him  with  some  means.  In 
this  promise  the  son  did  not  place  much  confidence,  because  his 
father  would  not  furnish  him  with  means  to  purchase  the  nec 
essary  school-books,  the  object  in  this  being  to  punish  him  for 
some  of  his  wicked  actions,  for  he  was  what  was  called  a  very 
wild  lad.  He  then  determined  to  prosecute  his  studies,  and 
qualify  himself  for  the  profession  of  the  law.  To  this  end,  he 
took  a  school  in  the  country,  which  he  taught  during  the  win 
ter,  and,  with  the  small  amount  of  funds  raised  in  this  way, 
he  left  in  the  spring  for  the  seminary  at  Gettysburg,  Pennsyl 
vania.  He  remained  there  during  the  summer  session,  and 
then  left  for  want  of  means,  but  with  considerable ,  credit  to 
himself,  and  with  the  good  wishes  of  the  entire  faculty.  There 
were  among  his  classmates  several  gentlemen  who  are  now  em 
inent  in  their  professions  :  of  the  number  are  the  Rev.  Theoph- 
ilus  Stork,  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Spreacher,  of 
Chambersburg. 

After  leaving  Gettysburg,  he  taught  school  in  his  native  vil 
lage  for  about  two  years,  devoting  all  his  leisure  time  to  the 
prosecution  of  his  studies.  With  the  little  money  thus  receiv 
ed,  and  the  good  wishes  of  his  neighbors,  he  left  for  Washing 
ton  College,  Washington,  Pennsylvania.  He  remained  there 
but  one  session.  He  did  not  attempt  to  graduate,  though  qual 
ified  to  do  so  in  all  branches  excepting  the  Greek,  to  which  he 
had  paid  no  attention.  In  March,  1835,  his  father  furnished 
him  with  some  funds,  and  he  left  for  the  residence  of  Oliver  H. 
Smith,  of  Indiana,  since  that  time  a  senator  of  the  United 
States  from  that  state.  Of  this  gentleman  he  knew  nothin^ 
beyond  the  fact,  communicated  by  letter  from  a  friend  in  Ohio, 
that  he  was  a  lawyer  of  some  eminence  in  the  state,  with  whom 
it  would  be  advisable  to  read  law.  On  reaching  his  residence, 
Mr.  Lahm  found  that  Mr.  Smith  was  not  only  an  excellent 
lawyer,  but  a  kind-hearted  man  and  a  perfect  gentleman. 
He  immediately  tendered  to  him  the  privilege  of  his  library, 
and  also  a  home  as  a  member  of  the  family.  The  proposition 
was  accepted,  and  Mr.  Lahm  commenced  the  study  of  the  law. 
Owing  to  his  pecuniary  circumstances,  and  to  a  fixed  resolution 
to  qualify  himself  for  admission  before  a  young  man  who  had 
already  been  several  months  in  the  office,  and  toward  whom 


SAMUEL   LAHM.  33 

he  had  conceived,  in  consequence  of  ill  treatment,  a  rooted  dis 
like,  he  studied  every  day  from  daylight  until  10  and  12  o'clock 
at  night,  scarcely  excepting  even  the  Sabbath.  In  September, 
1835,  having  read  but  six  months,  Mr.  Smith  advised  him  that 
he  was  qualified  for  admission ;  and,  without  any  solicitation 
on  his  part,  gave  him  the  necessary  certificates,  and  also  letters 
of  recommendation  to  the  prominent  men  of  Laporte  county, 
which  Mr.  Smith  selected  for  him  as  a  good  locality.  Mr. 
Lahm  left  the  residence  of  that  gentleman  with  the  best  wish 
es  of  all  the  family  except  his  fellow-student,  and  even  he,  sev 
eral  years  afterward,  wrote  a  letter  apologizing  for  his  conduct. 

After  examination  and  admission,  Mr.  Lahm  visited  Laporte, 
but,  for  considerations  of  health,  remained  there  only  a  few 
days,  when  he  left  for  his  home  in  Maryland.  On  reaching 
Canton,  in  Ohio,  he  was  pleased  with  the  place,  and,  through 
the  advice  of  some  connections,  was  induced  to  make  it  his 
home.  He  has  remained  there  since  October,  1835.  The 
laws  of  Ohio  require  of  persons  who  have  been  admitted  to 
practice  in  other  states,  but  who  have  not  practiced,  a  residence 
of  one  year  before  they  can  be  admitted,  and  also  two  years' 
reading  before  admission.  A  strict  compliance  with  this  law 
would  have  compelled  Mr.  Lahm  to  read  eighteen  months  be 
fore  he  could  have  practiced.  The  one  year  he  could  not  es 
cape,  but  the  difficulty  as  to  the  other  six  months  he  avoided 
by  not  making  known  to  any  one  how  long  he  had  read.  Con 
sequently,  at  the  end  of  the  year  he  was  examined,  and  at  once 
admitted.  He  formed  an  immediate  copartnership  with  A.  W. 
Loomis,  formerly  member  of  Congress  from  Columbiana  coun 
ty,  Ohio,  and  now  a  resident  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania.  They 
continued  together,  having  a  very  excellent  country  practice, 
until  the  fall  of  1841,  when  Mr.  Loomis  left  the  state. 

In  the  spring  of  1837,  Mr.  Lahm  received  from  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  the  county  the  appointment  of  Master  in 
Chancery,  which  he  held  for  three  years.  In  the  fall  of  that  year 
he  was  nominated  by  a  Democratic  convention  for  the  office  of 
prosecuting  attorney.  The  contest  for  nomination  was  a  se 
vere  one.  He  defeated  his  opponent  in  a  convention  of  eighty- 
five  delegates  by  one  vote  only.  This  office  was  not  sought  by 
Mr.  Lahm.  Indeed,  for  a  long  time  he  had  refused  to  be  a  can 
didate,  having  no  confidence  in  his  own  ability  to  discharge  the 

VOL.  L— C 


34  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

duties  of  the  office.  He  was,  however,  elected ;  and  at  the  end 
of  two  years  he  was  re-elected,  defeating  his  former  opponent 
in  convention  by  a  large  vote.  At  the  end  of  four  years  he  de 
clined  a  re-election.  During  his  term  of  office  there  was  an  im 
mense  amount  of  criminal  business  in  the  county,  and  he  be 
lieves  that  he  never  lost  an  indictment  for  want  of  form.  The 
most  important  case  in  his  term  was  that  of  Ohio  vs.  an  indi 
vidual,  for  forging  a  certificate  of  deposit  in  one  of  the  state 
banks  by  alteration,  which -certificate  the  accused,  being  post 
master,  took  from  the  mail.  The  prosecution  excited  much  in 
terest,  in  consequence  of  his  frauds,  on  different  persons,  having 
amounted  to  some  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  dollars.  The  case 
was  removed  to  an  adjoining  county,  and  the  accused  was  de 
fended  by  Thomas  Ewing,  former  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  un 
der  General  Harrison,  D.  A.  Starkweather,  H.  Griswold,  John 
Harris,  and  others.  Mr.  Loomis  and  Mr.  Lahm  appeared  for 
the  state.  The  accused  was  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  the 
penitentiary. 

In  the  fall  of  1842  Mr.  Lahm  was  nominated  and  elected  by 
the  Democratic  party  to  the  office  of  state  senator.  The  most 
important  questions  before  the  Legislature  at  the  session  of 
1842-3  were  the  districting  the  state  for  members  of  Con 
gress,  and  the  subject  of  banks  and  currency.  In  both  of  these 
questions  he  took  an  active  part.  With  reference  to  the  for 
mer,  he  succeeded  in  keeping  his  own  district  unaltered  in  ter 
ritory  and  number.  On  the  subject  of  the  currency,  differ 
ences  began  to  manifest  themselves,  at  the  session  of  1842,  in 
the  sentiments  of  Democrats.  A  very  few  were  in  favor  of  de 
stroying  all  banks,  but  a  large  majority  were  in  favor  of  a  well- 
restricted  banking  system.  He  was  of  the  number  of  the  lat 
ter.  The  bill  known  as  Bartley's  Law  was  passed  in  1842-3. 
At  the  session  of  1843—4  the  question  again  came  up,  and  a 
division  took  place  among  Democrats  on  what  was  called  the 
Wooster  Bank  Bill,  the  object  of  which  was  to  exempt  that 
bank  from  the  provisions  of  Bartley's  Law.  Four  Democrats  of 
the  Senate  and  seventeen  of  the  House  were  in  favor  of  this 
bill.  Among  them  Mr.  Lahm  took  the  lead,  with  a  determina 
tion  to  put  it  through.  The  bill  was  passed.  It  created  an  in 
tense  excitement  in  the  state,  and  separated  the  party  into  divi 
sions,  known  by  the  name  of  "  hards"  and  "  softs."  This  divi- 


SAMUEL   LAHM.  35 

sion  gave  to  the  Whigs  the  Legislature  in  1845,  and  the  gov 
ernor  in  1846.  In  Mr.  Lahm's  district  the  division  was  more 
general  than  in  any  other  in  the  state,  which  was  made  the  pre 
text,  as  to  himself,  of  violent  political  vituperation. 

In  the  fall  of  1844  he  was  a  candidate  for  Congress.  In  his 
own  county  he  received  the  votes  of  two  thirds  of  the  delegates ; 
but  in  Wayne,  where  he  was  not  known,  the  vote  given  to  Mr. 
Starkweather,  who  had,  the  support  of  the  press,  overbalanced 
his  in  his  own  county.  His  friends  then  nominated  him  for  the 
State  Senate ;  and  when  the  "  hards"  found  that  they  could  not 
succeed  in  defeating  him  in  any  other  way,  they  united  with 
the  Whigs,  and  elected  the  Whig  candidate.  In  the  fall  of 
1846,  the  division  still  remaining  unhealed,  his  name  was  an 
nounced  as  an  independent  candidate  ;  and  although  Mr.  Stark 
weather  was  elected  formerly  by  a  majority  of  about  1800,  yet 
at  the  election  for  the  thirtieth  Congress  Mr.  Lahm  defeated 
him  by  a  majority  of  about  two  hundred. 

When  in  the  State  Legislature,  Mr.  Lahm,  as  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Public  Institutions,  made  a  report  against 
the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government  from  Columbus.  He  in 
vestigated  the  subject  thoroughly,  and  his  report  is  said  to  have 
given  a  quietus  to  that  question.  In  military  matters  he  has 
taken  some  interest.  He  has  been  elected  to  different  offices, 
and  received  different  appointments,  first  entering  the  colonel's 
staff,  and  then  having  been  elected  lieutenant-colonel,  and,  last 
ly,  brigadier-general,  which  latter  post  he  now  holds. 

We  should  note  that  he  represented  his  district,  which  is  the 
eighteenth  of  Ohio,  and  consists  of  the  counties  of  Stark  and 
Wayne,  in  the  Baltimore  Convention,  which  nominated  Mr. 
Polk  to  the  presidency.  His  own  predilections  were  in  favor 
of  General  Cass,  but  he  supported  Mr.  Van  Buren  under  in 
structions.  Though  elected,  as  we  have  shown,  as  an  inde 
pendent  candidate,  he  entered  Congress  with  a  determination 
to  give  his  support  to  all  the  prominent  measures  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic  party.  And  he  has  done  so. 

He  was  married  in  1838  to  Almira  Webster  Brown,  daugh 
ter  of  Daniel  Brown,  formerly  a  merchant  of  Portsmouth,  New 
Hampshire.  He  has  three  sons  and  a  daughter  living.  In  per 
son  he  is  about  five  feet  ten  inches,  rather  strongly  built,  with 
light  brown  hair  and  whiskers. 


INGERSOLL,  JOSEPH  REED, 


AS  the  son  of  Jared  Ingersoll,  who  represented  in  part  the 
people  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  Convention  which 
framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Inheriting  an 
attachment  to  that  instrument,  he  has  never  failed  to  bring  to 
its  support  his  cordial  and  deliberate  exertions.  During  an 
active  professional  career  at  the  bar  of  Philadelphia,  he  devoted 
himself  for  a  considerable  time  to  the  practice  of  the  law. 
With  occasional  indulgence  in  literature,  and  a  connection  with 
many  of  the  public  institutions  of  his  native  city,  he  has  not 
until  within  the  last  few  years  actually  exchanged  the  labors  of  a 
toilsome  profession  for  the  more  exciting  duties  of  Congressional 
life.  He  contributed  to  the  student  of  maritime  law  a  trans 
lation,  from  the  Latin,  of  the  treatise  by  Roccus  on  Ships  and 
Freight,  with  copious  original  notes.  The  author  of  many  col 
legiate  and  other  public  addresses,  he  adhered  somewhat  stead 
fastly  to  his  profession,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  interval 
in  the  twenty-fourth  Congress  of  1836-7,  until  the  winter  of 
1842,  when  he  succeeded  to  a  place  rendered  vacant  by  the 
resignation  of  John  Sergeant,  in  the  Whig  House  of  Represent 
atives,  at  the  second  session  of  the  twenty-seventh  Congress. 
Since  that  time  he  has  continued  to  represent  the  second  Con 
gressional  District  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  public  records  bear  ample  testimony  to  the  ability  and 
laborious  research  with  which  he  has  fulfilled  his  trust.  Early 
in  the  first  session  of  the  twenty-fourth  Congress,  when  the 
discordant  opinions  that  have  since  so  much  distracted  the  pub 
lic  councils,  in  relation  to  the  disposition  of  abolition  petitions, 
began  to  threaten  serious  evils,  Mr.  Ingersoll  offered  a  proposi- 
36 


JOSEPH   REED   INGERSOLL.  37 

tion  which,  as  indicating  the  high  national  ground  that  he  him 
self  occupied,  we  here  subjoin.  He  offered  it,  he  said,  as  a 
means  of  tranquilizing  all  parts  of  the  House,  without  com 
promise  on  either  side : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  holding  of  slaves  is  a  right  clearly  rec 
ognized  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  is  there 
by  secured  to  the  citizens  of  those  states  whose  policy  does  not 
forbid  it,  as  the  legitimate  subject  of  individual  property,  and 
source  of  political  influence  and  power ;  and  all  attempts  to  in 
terfere  with,  or  molest  them  in  its  exercise  or  enjoyment,  are 
impolitic,  unconstitutional,  and  unjust." 

Without  arguing  the  question  whether  the  same  Constitution 
which  gave  this  security  to  the  possessors  of  slaves,  and  which 
also  gave  to  Congress  exclusive  power  of  legislation  in  all  cases 
whatever  over  such  district  as  might  become  the  seat  of  gov 
ernment,  did  or  did  not  include  the  power  to  abolish  slavery 
within  its  limits,  he  contended  that  the  true  policy  was  not  to 
let  petitions  of  this  character  remain  unanswered,  but  to  decide 
them  all,  and  in  that  decision  to  pronounce  an  emphatic  vin 
dication  of  all  that  was  done.  At  the  same  session  he  advoca 
ted  with  much  earnestness  the  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of 
the  sales  of  the  public  lands  as  a  measure  of  paramount  import 
ance  and  utility. 

During  the  troubled  administration  of  Mr.  Tyler  several  in 
teresting  questions  were  agitated.  Among  these  was  the  sub 
ject  of  the  assumption  of  state  debts  by  the  general  government. 
Mr.  Ingersoll  is  the  author  of  a  report  in  opposition,  and  in  An 
swer  to  numerous  memorials  and  applications  by  which  that 
measure  was  urged.  The  idea  itself  has  become  almost  obso 
lete  ;  but  the  report  will  richly  repay  perusal,  and  may  be  found 
among  the  records  of  the  House  under  the  date  of  January  30th, 
1843.  He  is  also  the  author  of  a  report,  made  at  the  first  ses 
sion  of  the  twenty-eighth  Congress,  on  the  question  of  so  amend 
ing  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  to  strike  from  the 
third  clause  of  the  second  section  of  the  first  article  such  parts  as, 
in  the  apportionment  of  representatives  and  direct  taxes  among 
the  several  states,  authorize  the  addition  to  the  whole  number 
of  free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of 
years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  of  three  fifths  of  all 
other  persons.  The  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  adopted  cer- 


38  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

tain  resolutions,  which  were  formally  communicated  to  Con 
gress,  recommending  for  its  consideration  an  amendment  of  the 
Constitution  by  which  this  clause  should  be  abolished.  [See 
title,  JOHN  Q.  ADAMS.]  These  resolutions  were  referred  to  a 
select  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Ingersoll  was  a  member,  and 
who,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  one  other  member,  Garrett  Davis, 
of  Kentucky,  made  an  elaborate  report. 

"  The  high  source,"  says  this  document,  "  from  which  the  rec 
ommendation  comes,  single  as  it  is,  and  altogether  unsustained 
by  similar  movements  on  the  part  of  other  Legislatures,  entitles 
it  to  respect ;  and  the  general  interest  felt  in  the  whole  subject 
to  which  it  refers,  claims  for  it  prompt  and  attentive  considera 
tion.  If  the  conclusion  at  which  the  committee  has  arrived, 
and  this  candid  exposition  of  some  of  its  members,  should  not 
precisely  meet  the  wishes  which  have  been  intimated  by  the 
representatives  of  a  great  commonwealth,  the  committee  will 
derive  rich  consolation  in  reflecting  that  Massachusetts  has 
shared  largely  in  the  benefits  and  blessings  of  the  Constitution 
which  she  proposes  to  change ;  that  her  participation  in  them 
is  hourly  increasing ;  and  that  the  alteration  which  she  recom 
mends  could  have  little  direct  influence  upon  her  own  condition, 
however,  in  the  estimation  of  many,  it  might  reflect  credit  upon 
her  statesmen  for  the  indulgence  of  a  spirit  of  far-reaching  and 
itinerant  philanthropy.  This  consolation  finds  as  little  abate 
ment  in  anticipation  as  in  retrospect.  The  past  prosperity  of 
that  important  member  of  the  Union,  derived  essentially  from 
the  Union,  has  rested  upon  principles  which,  in  their  nature, 
can  not  change.  It  had  for  its  forerunner  a  bright  career  of 
military  glory,  and  an  early  combination  of  patriotic  efforts, 
which  contributed  largely  to  achieve  the  independence  of  the 
whole  nation.  These  recollections  afford  a  pledge  for  the  con 
tinuance  of  advantages  in  connection  with  the  Union,  at  least  as 
abundant  for  the  future  as  they  have  been  glorious  and  produc 
tive  in  the  past.  The  reflections  which  have  consoled  the  com 
mittee,  in  not  being  able  to  unite  in  any  measures  to  further 
the  amendment  recommended,  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  no  strangers 
to  the  authors  of  the  resolutions  themselves.  While  unable  to 
concur  with  them  in  facilitating  their  objects,  or  even  in  the  es 
timate  which  they  appear  to  have  made  of  the  inherent  nature 
of  the  change  proposed,  and  its  congruity  with  the  purposes  of 


JOSEPH   REED  INGERSOLL.  39 

the  Constitution  respecting  amendments,  the  committee  has  not 
withheld  from  the  subject  an  attention  proportioned  to  its  mag 
nitude.  The  House  of  Representatives  has  so  far  acted  upon 
the  application  of  the  single  state  as  to  consider  its  resolutions 
entitled  to  formal  reference.  The  subscribers  will  do  no  more 
than  discharge  an  obvious  duty  to  the  body  of  which  the  com 
mittee  itself  is  merely  the  agent  and  organ,  in  submitting  to  the 
House,  in  the  absence  of  any  formal  report,  their  own  individual 
views. 

"  In  treating  the  subject,  the  undersigned  have  felt  that  the 
committee  possessed  the  power  of  choosing  between  distinct  and 
different  paths.  Were  it  composed  of  heated  zealots  or  infuri 
ated  partisans,  anxious  only  to  achieve  a  short-lived  victory  in 
active  and  animated  discussion,  or  to  retire  from  it  with  the 
bitter  fruits  of  discord  as  the  reward  of  uncompromising  strug 
gles  in  unbecoming  strife,  it  might  select  the  one.  Were  it  an 
imated  by  loftier  motives,  and  bound  by  an  ardent  love  of  coun 
try,  to  exercise,  if  possible,  a  persuasive  influence  over  excited 
passions,  and  to  contribute,  in  public  position,  to  advance  the 
natural  tendencies  of  individual  benevolence,  to  tranquilize  and 
assuage,  it  would  pursue  the  other.  Feeling  has  been  inflamed 
by  long-continued  controversy.  Taunts  and  reproaches  have 
been  freely  and  reciprocally  flung.  Censure  has  poured  out  its 
stores  of  contumely  upon  those  who  never  sought,  and  who  de 
voutly  believe  that  they  can  not,  if  they  would,  abandon  the 
subject  of  reproach.  Enough  has  been  done  and  suffered  from 
ill  will.  In  selecting  a  course  of  conciliation  and  forbearance, 
or,  rather,  in  obeying  the  dictates  of  patriotism,  which  should 
control  the  official  guardians  of  the  public  weal—members  of  a 
body  which  should  reflect,  as  from  a  mirror,  the  wishes  and  in 
terests  of  the  whole  nation — the  subscribers  devoutly  believe 
that  they  shall  discharge  a  solemn  duty.  They  are  sensible,  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  discussion  will  be  tedious  and  tame. 
Where  a  theme  is  replete  with  topics  of  exciting  interest,  and 
the  treatment  of  it,  upon  both  sides,  is  habitually  ardent  and 
impassioned,  cool  reflection  and  sober  reason  have  little  claims 
upon  popular  sympathy  or  applause.  Passion  is  always  conta 
gious,  and,  for  the  most  part,  eloquent.  It  readily  invests  its 
efforts  with  the  attractions  of  fancy,  and  draws  into  its  vortex 
the  feelings,  if  not  the  judgments,  of  men.  In  its  most  ordinary 


40  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

influences  it  is  pernicious.  When  it  assumes  the  direction  of 
distant  and  complicated  interests,  and  assails  the  delicate  posi 
tions  of  a  deeply-rooted  sensibility,  it  threatens  to  stir  up  an 
agitation  that  may  not  speedily  be  repressed.  Mistaken  sym 
pathies  abroad,  leagued  with  partial  efforts  of  domestic  hostility, 
have  done  much  to  provoke  and  wound.  If  they  should  now  be 
seconded  by  keen  invective  from  the  heart  of  the  legislative 
council  of  the  nation,  none  but  fatal  consequences  can  ensue. 
We  are  one  people.  If  there  are  common  errors  to  be  amended, 
let  us  correct  them  as  we  can ;  but  let  us  not  add  the  folly  and 
the  meanness  of  self-abuse  to  the  malignity  of  foreign  denunci 
ation.  By  such  means  the  Constitution — the  acknowledged 
work  of  sages  and  statesmen,  whose  memories  are  embalmed 
in  the  hearts  of  a  grateful  and  admiring  country — will  be  can 
celed  and  torn  to  pieces ;  a  union,  the  fruit  of  blood  and  toil, 
glorious  in  its  formation,  and  successful  in  its  results  beyond 
precedent  and  almost  beyond  hope— the  fairest  work  of  human 
hands,  if  cherished  and  preserved — will  be  dissolved ;  a  large 
portion  of  this  fair  land  may  be  made  the  scene  of  massacre  and 
bloodshed ;  all  the  rest  will  be  exposed  to  be  overwhelmed  with 
incongruous  associations,  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  nature  and 
of  man.  And  all  for  what  ?  For  the  indulgence  of  little  else 
than  an  abstract  theory  on  the  part  of  those  who,  in  security, 
unconsciously  stir  up  the  prodigious  mischief,  at  the  threatened 
cost  of  life  and  treasure  to  their  brethren,  who  alone  can  become 
the  sufferers ;  a  theory,  too,  the  elements  of  which  have  lain 
buried  since  the  formation  of  the  Union,  and  are  now  gathered, 
like  the  spell  of  the  necromancer,  from  the  decayed  bodies  and 
phosphoric  lights  of  charnel-houses,  to  spread  noisome  pestilence 
among  the  living.  Burning  thoughts  and  words  may  be  given 
out,  and  may  not,  by  any  will  or  power,  be  recalled.  They 
will  extend  with  the  fatal  rapidity  of  Phrygian  fire.  If  the  re 
sult  should  be  destruction  to  the  fabric  which  has  been  reared 
by  patriotism  and  consecrated  to  freedom,  foreign  nations  will 
rejoice  over  the  downfall  which  they  have  confidently  predicted 
of  the  last  great  experiment  of  popular  self-government." 

The  report  takes  the  ground  that,  by  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution,  this  compromise  was  fairly  made,  and  was  intend 
ed  to  be  permanent ;  that  it  had  fulfilled  its  purposes  with  re 
spect  to  other  sections  of  the  Union,  and  could  not  now,  when 


JOSEPH   REED   INGERSOLL.  41 

those  purposes  had  been  accomplished,  justly  be  abrogated, 
without  the  consent  of  all  who  were  originally  parties  to  the 
instrument.  And  it  thus  concludes : 

"  Why  should  an  arrangement,  which  was  coeval  with  the 
Constitution,  and  ingrafted  upon  it,  be  considered  ephemeral  ? 
Why  should  not  a  compact,  solemnly  and  deliberately  made, 
fully  understood  and  fairly  entered  into,  be  perpetual?  Why 
should  not  patriotic  purposes,  happy  and  harmonious  in  their 
origin,  glorious  in  their  exercise,  and  fruitful  in  their  conse 
quences,  be  cherished  and  preserved?  Slavery  exists  and  is 
protected  in  one  section  of  the  country ;  it  is  abrogated  in  an 
other.  The  same  relative  feelings  and  judgments  respecting  it 
which  prevailed  formerly  remain  in  kind,  if  not  in  degree,  un 
changed.  Union  is  as  desirable,  harmony  and  good- will  among 
the  states  are  as  much  to  be  cultivated  as  ever.  The  people 
are  the  same  in  their  internal  condition  and  their  relations  to 
ward  the  world  as  they  were  in  the  year  1787.  If  a  less  extent 
of  numbers  rendered  the  whole  nation  feebler  at  a  former  pe 
riod,  and  more  exposed  to  encroachments  from  foreign  enemies 
and  dangerous  neighbors,  a  greater  extent  of  numbers,  which 
now  makes  them  more  powerful,  enables  them  the  more  effect 
ually  to  aid  and  support  each  other.  If  the  system  of  slavery 
be  indeed  on  the  decline,  and  public  sentiment  be  in  truth  rap 
idly  accelerating  its  final  extinction,  without  the  necessity  of 
external  assaults,  why  not  leave  it  to  the  doom  which  is  sup 
posed  to  await  it?  Nothing  in  the  present  numbers  of  the 
slave  population,  compared  with  its  past  extent,  justifies  neg* 
lect.  Its  actual  increase  has  been  great,  although  it  has  not 
kept  pace  with  that  of  the  whites.  Two  millions  four  hundred 
and  eighty-six  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  of  this  de 
scription  of  persons  in  1840,  have  succeeded  to  six  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  thousand  and  forty-seven  in  1790.  This  quad 
rupled  mass  of  a  separate  race  does  not  less  require  compromise 
and  care,  for  the  sake  of  an  arrangement  between  those  among 
whom  exclusively  is  its  abiding-place  and  the  rest  of  the  repub 
lican  family,  than  it  did  when  a  fourth  only  of  the  number, 
formidable  even  then,  was  found.  No  matter  whether  the 
combination  of  races  in  its  present  form,  the  Caucasian  master 
and  the  African  slave,  is  to  endure  for  ages,  or,  in  the  sure  de 
velopment  of  human  affairs,  is  gradually  to  change  its  charac- 


42  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

ter,  the  necessity  for  existing  provisions  is,  in  either  aspect,  in 
dispensably,  and  perhaps  equally,  required.  The  author  to 
whose  tables  reference  has  been  made,  predicts,  that  among 
the  grain  and  cattle-growing  states  emancipation  will  be  easier 
and  sooner  than  where  products  are  grown  which  require  much 
labor  and  manipulation ;  and  that  in  the  order  named  it  will 
proceed.  Whether  the  event  be  distant  or  near  at  hand,  prac 
ticable  or  impracticable,  is  matter  of  speculation  and  surmise. 
We  will  not  here  indulge  in  an  inquiry,  which,  however  inter 
esting  in  itself,  is  not  embraced  in  the  duties  of  this  committee. 
The  subscribers,  knowing  the  system  to  exist  and  to  be  recog 
nized  in  the  Constitution,  and  believing  that  recognition  to  have 
been  once  essential  to  the  formation,  and  now  necessary  to  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  have  no  desire  to  gratify  or  duty  to 
perform,  except  to  leave  it  upon  the  basis  selected  for  it  by 
those  whose  example  it  is  wise  to  emulate,  and  whose  counsels 
it  is  virtuous  to  obey." 

Mr.  Ingersoll  was  also  the  author  of  a  minority  tariff  report, 
in  which  the  principles  of  the  act  of  1842  were  elaborately  vin 
dicated,  and  any  essential  change  opposed.  The  circumstances 
under  which  that  tariff  act  was  matured  and  reported  are  not 
generally  known.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  having  been 
more  than  once  called  on  by  the  House  of  Representatives, 
communicated,  at  a  somewhat  advanced  period  of  the  session, 
to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  a  bill  in  all  of  its  de 
tails.  The  committee  made  this  bill  a  very  broad  basis,  and 
proceeded  to  examine  it,  with  the  constant  attendance  and  as 
sistance  of  Major  Barker,  who  had  been  collector  of  the  port  of 
Philadelphia  and  was  employed  at  the  Treasury.  Several  of 
the  members  of  the  Committee  on  Manufactures  frequently  at 
tended  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  JVCeans,  and  gave  them  ad 
vice  and  assistance.  The  sittings  were  constant  and  laborious. 
They  took  place  not  only  at  the  ordinary  time  before  the  meeting 
of  the  House,  but  occasionally  while  the  House  was  in  session, 
and  in  the  afternoon  and  evening.  The  committee  frequently 
admitted  persons  representing  the  various  interests  which  might 
be  affected  by  the  proposed  law ;  even  ministers  of  foreign  gov 
ernments  were  heard  on  those  points  which  might  affect  the 
people  of  their  country.  After  great  deliberation  the  bill  was 
reported.  It  underwent  a  long  and  patient  discussion,  and  at 


JOSEPH   REED   INGERSOLL.  43 

length  (modified  greatly  and  differing  in  many  details  from  the 
bill  prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Forward) 
became  a  law. 

Among  other  measures  introduced  by  Mr.  Ingersoll,  we  notice 
a  bill  to  abolish  public  executions,  and  a  joint  resolution  author 
izing  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  cause  medals  from 
the  trophies  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma  to  be  made. 

To  the  unremitted  efforts  of  Mr.  Ingersoll  it  was  owing  that 
the  long- vexed  question  in  relation  to  the  Pea  Patch  Island,  of 
which  the  title  is  now  finally  declared  to  be  in  the  United  States, 
was  put  in  a  train  for  settlement. 

He  was  among  the  number  of  those  who  adhered,  through 
all  the  excitement  of  the  time,  to  the  opinion  that  the  Oregon 
dispute  was  still  a  subject-matter  of  honorable  compromise,  and 
who  never  lost  sight  of  that  hope  and  object.  He  voted  for  the 
"Notice."  [See  title,  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS.] 

He  constantly  took  ground  against  the  annexation  of  Texas, 
and  claims  to  have  been  the  first  member  of  the  House  who  as 
serted  the  principle  that  annexation  was,  ipso  facto ,  war.  In 
a  speech  delivered  on  the  4th  of  January,  1845,  we  find  these 
sentiments  expressed : 

"  A  question  had  sometimes  been  made  whether  annexation 
with  Texas  would  lead  to  war  with  Mexico.  Mr.  Ingersoll  did 
not  consider  that  to  be  a  true  statement  of  the  case.  Annexa 
tion  with  Texas  was  of  itself,  and  of  necessity,  war  with  Mex 
ico.  How  could  it  be  otherwise  ?  A  war  existed  between  these 
two  countries.  Whether  civil  or  foreign  in  its  nature,  whether 
fiercely  or  sluggishly  carried  on,  was  not  the  point.  Different 
assertions,  and  for  different  purposes,  had  been  put  forth.  A 
rebellious  province  in  the  eyes  of  the  parent  country  was  an 
emancipated  republic  in  its  own.  An  extinguished  war  for  pur 
poses  of  de  facto  independence  was  a  flagrant  one  for  purposes 
of  humane  interposition  and  gratuitous  protection.  Whatever 
was  its  character,  it  must  attach  to  the  soil  and  the  inhabitants, 
no  matter  what  might  be  the  flag  under  which  they  should 
march  to  battle.  A  mere  change  of  colors  did  not  convert  an 
enemy  and  a  belligerent  into  a  neutral ;  otherwise  it  would  be 
easy  to  escape  the  hazards  of  war.  If  Texas  should  become  a 
part  of  the  United  States,  that  part  kept  alive  the  war  in  which 
it  was  engaged,  and  every  part  of  the  United  States  adopted 


44  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

and  assumed  it.  The  right  hand  can  not  be  at  war  and  the 
left  at  peace,  of  the  same  body,  at  the  same  time.  The  only 
difference  between  the  present  alid  the  possible  state  of  things 
would  be,  that  a  distant,  difficult,  and  almost  inaccessible  thea 
ter  of  war,  narrow  in  its  sphere,  and  without  temptation  in  its 
objects,  would  become  one  of  easy  access  and  rich  incitement. 

"  This  nation  has  no  right  thus  to  expose  the  property  or  the 
lives  of  its  citizens  in  such  a  quarrel.  With  a  just  cause  of  in 
jured  right,  invaded  territory,  or  insulted  honor,  it  has  felt  no 
fear  to  encounter  single-handed  the  mightiest  power  of  the  earth. 
The  God  of  battles  has  not  frowned  upon  the  bold  design.  A 
causeless,  voluntary  war,  founded  upon  interest  or  ambition, 
can  not  expect  the  sanction  or  the  smiles  of  Heaven.  Not  even 
verbal  indignity  could  be  offered  as  a  poor  excuse.  The  first 
insult,  in  the  late  correspondence  at  least — that  between  Mr. 
Shannon  and  Mr.  Rejon — came  from  our  side ;  we,  if  not  too 
wise  and  too  well  bred,  ought  to  have  been  at  least  too  proud 
and  too  politic  to  indulge  in  it.  If  money  would  purchase  a 
doubtful  title,  why  not  pay  it  now?  To  buy  property  might 
be  fair  and  just,  but  to  buy  off  a  provoked,  though  feeble  ene 
my,  was  what  could  not  be  submitted  to  without  disgrace." 

During  the  twenty-ninth  Congress,  Mr.  Ingersoll  uniformly 
advocated  the  same  principles.  Believing  that  the  war  had 
been  unnecessarily  and  wantonly  begun  on  our  part,  he  still  did 
not  feel  justified  in  refusing  supplies  for  armies  in  the  field. 
He  expressed  his  views  fully  toward  the  close  of  the  session  of 
1846.  "  War,"  said  he,  "  exists  by  constitutional  authority  ; 
an  authority  exercised,  indeed,  most  improvidently,  but  exer 
cised  and  wielded,  as  I  believe,  by  legislative  inducement  and 
sanction.  I  do  not  refer  at  all  to  that  recent  preamble  of  the 
llth  of  May,  as  affording  legislative  sanction,  which,  constitu 
ting  no  part  of  the  enacting  clause,  can  neither  give  strength 
to  it,  nor  take  it  away.  I  refer  to  that  earlier  and  more  signif 
icant  legislative  proceeding,  the  first  resolution  deliberately  and 
willfuly  passed  by  Congress,  and  approved  March  1st,  1845." 

After  arguing  that  this  act  of  annexation  of  Texas  was  "  ca- 
s^ls  belli"  and  so  received  and  treated  by  Mexico,  he  proceeded 
to  show  that  this  paper  war  became  active  by  ordering  our 
troops  through  disputed  territory,  partly  occupied  by  a  Mexi 
can  population,  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  without  any 


JOSEPH   REED   INGERSOLL.  45 

corresponding  warlike  exhibition  on  their  part,  and  placing 
heavy  cannon  in  battery  on  the  edge  of  a  narrow  river,  bear 
ing,  according  to  General  Taylor's  dispatches,  "directly  upon 
the  public  square  of  Matamoras,  and  within  good  range  for  de 
molishing  the  town."  From  the  moment  of  actual  collision 
and  subsequent  invasion  of  the  Mexican  territory,  a  question 
arose  respecting  the  duty  of  the  minority,  who,  believing  that 
such  a  state  of  things  might  have  been  avoided,  were  called 
upon  to  determine  whether  they  would  give  to  further  belliger 
ent  operations  their  official  aid.  War  had  then  become  flagrant. 
The  troops  of  the  United  States  had  penetrated  far  into  the  in 
terior  of  the  country,  and  their  situation  might  become  more 
than  critical,  if  not  looked  to  with  more  than  ordinary  care.  A 
bill  providing  appropriations  for  carrying  on  the  war  was  re 
ported.  The  Whig  party  was  required  to  determine  what  it 
would  do  in  that  contingency.  Mr.  Ingersoll  thought  the  op 
posing  grounds  tak^n  by  different  individuals  so  distinctly 
marked,  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  there  should  be  any  mis 
take  in  relation  to  them.  Positions  were  stated  in  both  houses 
of  Congress,  of  a  precise  and  definite  character.  They  might 
be  summed  up  in  a  few  words.  It  had  been  repeatedly  declar 
ed  by  gentlemen  of  the  minority,  that  in  the  existing  state  of 
things  they  would  not  vote  a  dollar  for  supplies,  or  add  one 
more  soldier  to  the  force  in  Mexico.  In  this,  he  thought,  there 
was  no  mere  theory,  no  hypothesis,  nothing  of  what  ought  to 
be  done,  or  might  be  done,  under  circumstances  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree  different.  Now  Mr.  Ingersoll  always  declared  that 
he  could  not,  and  did  not,  concur  in  these  sentiments.  If  the 
executive  had  done  wrong  in  commencing  active  hostilities,  and 
if,  as  he  individually  believed,  a  former  Congress  had  done  wrong 
in  taking  the  first  step  toward  war,  the  remedy  was  with  the 
people.  If  disgrace  and  suffering  should  ensue  from  denying 
appropriations,  he  should  riot  feel  justified  in  that  refusal,  be 
cause  of  a  possibility  and  a  power  to  pervert  the  supplies  in 
part  to  purposes  of  acquisition.  Acquisition  by  war  was  to  be 
deprecated,  and  he  trusted  that  it  might  not  be  made.  But 
there  were  evils  greater  even  than  acquisition,  great  as  that 
was,  and  it  became  every  friend  of  his  country  to  use  his  exer 
tions  to  avert  them.  In  the  course  of  his  remarks  on  the  oc 
casion  referred  to,  he  said : 


46  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  it  becomes  a  grave  question, 
what  is  the  duty  of  our  friends  on  this  side  of  the  House?  of 
those  who,  though  in  a  minority  which  disqualifies  them  from 
the  introduction,  and  takes  from  their  shoulders  much  of  the 
credit  and  responsibility  of  public  measures,  still  have  an  im 
portant  part  to  act.  They  have,  at  least,  to  guard  the  purity 
of  an  honored  name.  As  a  general  rule,  they  are  on  the  side 
of  principle  and  their  country ;  and  if  at  this  moment  there  be 
a  difference  on  any  question  which  presents  those  attributes  ar 
rayed  against  their  opposites,  I  trust  there  never  will  be  a  doubt 
or  hesitation  where  every  true  Whig  will  be  found.  In  placing 
themselves  within  the  pale,  and  under  the  panoply  of  a  party 
which  has  always  been  ardent  and  devoted  in  the  cause  of  free 
dom,  they  do  but  emulate  the  course  of  those  virtuous  men  that 
have  maintained  the  independence  and  honor  of  their  country. 
According  to  Lord  Bolingbroke,  this  was  their  character  nearly 
two  hundred  years  ago.  It  characterized  them  at  their  origin, 
and  has  gone  along  with  their  entire  history.  '  The  Whig  par 
ty,'  says  this  writer,  in  his  dissertation  on  parties,  '  was  called 
into  being  to  resist  the  attempt  of  the  king  and  his  cabal  against 
the  religion  and  liberty  of  the  country?  i  The  power  and 
majesty  of  the  people,  an  original  contract,  the  authority  and 
independency  of  Parliaments,  liberty,  resistance,  exclusion,  ab 
dication,  deposition — these  were  ideas  associated  at  that  time 
to  the  idea  of  a  Whig,  and  supposed  by  every  Whig  to  be  in 
communicable,  and  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  a  Tory.' 

"  There  might  be  unnecessary  severity  in  the  application  of 
the  same  eloquent  author's  remarks  to  the  antagonist  party  of 
this  day  and  nation.  To  that  antagonist  party  he  imputes  at 
its  origin  principles  which  are  certainly  not  so  creditable. 

"  *  Divine,  hereditary,  and  indefeasable  right,'  says  he,  '  lineal 
succession,  passive  obedience,  prerogative,  non-resistance,  slav 
ery,  nay,  and  sometimes  popery  too,  were  associated  in  many 
minds  to  the  idea  of  a  Tory,  and  deemed  incommunicable,  and 
inconsistent  in  the  same  manner  with  a  Whig.' 

"  Such  was  the  case  in  the  beginning.  Two  hundred  years 
have  in  political  creeds  made  no  difference.  The  same  love  of 
liberty  and  the  country,  its  Constitution  and  laws,  which  dis 
tinguished  the  patriots  in  the  days  of  the  royal  Charleses — the 
prerogative  Stuarts ;  which  assumed  the  shape  of  rebellion  at 


JOSEPH   REED   INGERSOLL.  47 

one  period,  and  produced  the  revolution  of  1688  at  another,  lived 
and  flourished  in  the  year  1776,  and  it  continues  to  animate, 
inspire,  and  invigorate  the  same  party  in  name  and  nature  now.' " 

Shortly  before  the  close  of  the  first  session  of  the  last  Con 
gress,  Mr.  Ingersoll  made  an  effort,  in  which,  however,  he  was 
not  successful,  to  introduce  the  following  joint  resolutions,  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the 
House : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  at 
a  period,  and  under  circumstances  when  no  liability  exists  to  mis 
construction  of  the  measure,  or  danger  of  impeachment  of  the  mo 
tives  which  induce  it,  a  reasonable  effort  should  be  made,  consist 
ently  with  national  dignity  and  honor,  for  the  restoration  of  peace 
between  the  Republic  of  the  United  States  and  that  of  Mexico. 

"  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  respectfully  recommend  to  the  President  that 
he  offer,  if  in  his  judgment  it  be  expedient,  to  open  with  Mexico 
a  negotiation  for  the  purpose  of  closing  the  present  war,  of  stop 
ping  the  effusion  of  human  blood,  and  of  providing  a  permanent 
and  satisfactory  arrangement  of  all  subsisting  differences. 

"  And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  offer  now  recommended 
can  not  fail  to  produce  (whatever  may  be  its  reception  and  im 
mediate  effect)  ultimate  consequences  alike  honorable  to  the 
country  and  beneficial  to  the  cause  of  justice.  If  accepted  in  a 
spirit  corresponding  with  that  which  prompts  it,  this  nation  will 
be  restored  to  its  natural  progressive  course  of  prosperity  and 
happiness,  and  will  secure  to  itself  a  sentiment  of  universal  good 
will.  If  refused,  from  whatever  cause  the  refusal  may  arise, 
the  nation  which  assumes  a  responsibility  so  full  of  threatened 
wretchedness  will  deprive  itself  of  every  claim  to  the  sympathies 
of  the  world ;  and  this  government  and  country  will  assume  a 
position  so  lofty  and  so  firm,  that  humanity  itself  will  sanction 
a  necessary  continuance  of  the  ravages  of  war. 

"And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  no  impediment  exists  to 
a  communication  with  the  government  of  Mexico,  by  reason 
either  of  hostilities  between  the  two  countries,  or  a  disturbed 
state  of  public  affairs  in  one  of  them.  Intercourse  may  be 
opened,  if  necessary,  from  army  to  army,  even  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet,  or,  with  better  hopes,  through  the  amicable  agency 
of  a  friendly  foreign  power." 


48  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Naturalization  Laws,  brought  under 
discussion  by  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts, 
asking  such  amendments  as  would  protect  the  ballot-box  and 
the  elective  franchise  from  abuses  and  frauds,  we  have  under 
stood  Mr.  Ingersoll  as  asserting  both  the  power  of  Congress  to 
make  such  amendments  and  the  expediency  of  exercising  it. 
These  laws  were  enacted  by  Congress ;  no  other  tribunal,  he 
has  contended,  could  interfere  with  them.  They  were  in  daily 
use  throughout  the  country.  In  the  practical  operation  of  them, 
errors  were  committed  and  frauds  were  perpetrated.  This  was 
a  great  and  growing  evil.  It  called  loudly  for  redress.  Redress 
could  be  effected  in  no  other  way  than  by  an  amendment  of 
the  laws  themselves.  While  they  remained,  as  they  now  stood, 
upon  the  national  statute  book,  correction  of  abuses  was  hope 
less.  How,  then,  was  a  reformation,  so  loudly  called  for,  to  be 
brought  about  ?  State  legislation  could  not  effect  it.  All  the 
sovereign  states  of  the  Union,  combined  in  one  strenuous  and 
universal  effort,  could  not  add  a  section  to  the  existing  national 
code,  or  deprive  it  of  any  one  of  its  provisions.  Nothing  human 
was  competent  to  the  object  but  an  act  of  Congress. 

This  being  the  case,  it  was  not  easy,  he  thought,  to  discov 
er  an  objection,  in  practice,  to  a  compliance  with  the  call 
made  by  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts.  A  sovereign  state, 
suffering  from  a  national  law,  in  the  exercise  by  its  people  of 
a  high  prerogative  of  freemen,  asked  the  national  lawgivers 
to  amend  it.  Nothing  could  be  more  regular  than  the  call — 
nothing  more  usual  than  a  compliance  with  similar  ones.  If 
the  evil  were  not  imaginary,  this  was  the  proper,  necessary 
mode  of  reaching  it.  Besides  the  practical  necessity  thus  point 
ed  out,  an  authority  for  the  application,  scarcely  less  operative  ? 
was  to  be  found  at  hand  in  fundamental  law.  The  Constitu 
tion  declared  that  Congress  might  establish  uniform  laws  of 
naturalization,  and  that  it  might  alter  any  law  that  a  state 
could  make  as  to  the  time,  place,  and  manner  of  electing  rep 
resentatives  and  senators  (with  a  single  exception).  An  Amer 
ican  legislator  would  but  vindicate  the  purposes  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  his  country  by  asserting  for  it  some  control  over  the 
subject  embraced  in  the  Massachusetts  resolutions.  In  the 
creation  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  State  Legislatures  could 
have  no  participation  whatever.  It  was  a  power  bestowed  by 


JOSEPH   REED   INGERSOLL.  49 

the  people  in  their  frame  of  government  exclusively  upon  the 
Congress  and  the  various  federal  and  state  courts  acting  under 
its  authority.  Some  of  the  state  constitutions,  especially  some 
of  the  new  ones,  had  claimed  a  right  to  make  citizens  of  the 
particular  commonwealth ;  that  is,  to  confer  within  its  borders 
the  elective  franchise  upon  terms  of  residence,  and  otherwise, 
altogether  different  from  those  provided  by  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.  So  long  as  this  prerogative  was  limited  to  the 
exercise  of  the  right  of  suffrage  on  the  particular  spot,  there 
might,  perhaps,  be  no  serious  objection  to  it;  but,  beyond  a 
very  narrow  range  of  power,  it  would  be  quite  ineffectual.  The 
term  citizen  had  a  national  import.  It  contemplated,  properly, 
neither  municipal  origin,  nor  a  much  wider  local  allegiance. 
It  was  coextensive  with  the  republic.  Mr.  Ingersoll  had  been 
taught  to  believe,  from  high  authority,  that,  strictly  speaking, 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  the  citizen  of  a  state,  although  the 
term  was  frequently  and  familiarly  used  in  legislation  and  out 
of  it.  A  citizen,  for  example,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  a  citizen 
of  the  United  States  residing  in  Pennsylvania.  The  term  thus 
understood  was  sufficiently  appropriate,  and  could  do  no  harm. 
It  prevented  circumlocution,  if  it  did  no  more.  This  was  the 
doctrine  he  had  learned  from  the  lips  of  Judge  Washington. 
To  carry  it  further  would  be  to  disregard  the  provision  of  the 
Constitution  which  had  been  alluded  to,  and  to  substitute  state 
power,  in  a  particular  so  essentially  and  exclusively  federal,  for 
that  of  the  general  government. 

An  imperfect  system  of  naturalization  existed.  Its  arrange 
ments  were  insufficient  to  prevent  irregularities.  Not  an  elec 
tion  occurred  in  crowded  districts  at  which  mutual  complaints 
were  not  made  by  the  respective  parties  of  improprieties  and 
frauds.  If  such  reproaches  were  well  founded,  they  proved  a 
state  of  things  which  called  loudly  for  reform.  It  was  hoped 
that  those  abuses  were  not  necessarily  attendant  on  popular 
elections.  If  they  were  not,  and  if  they  were,  indeed,  but  occa 
sional  excrescences  which  might  be  lopped  off  and  pruned  away, 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  patriot  to  seek  the  most  effectual  means 
of  reformation.  Even  if  they  were,  a  no  less  solemn  duty  was 
imposed  upon  him  to  endeavor,  by  every  practicable  application 
of  experience  and  wisdom,  to  lessen  the  evil.  The  object  of 
the  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  was  simply 

VOL.  L— D 


50  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

to  purify  the  ballot-box,  to  correct  errors  and  abuses  in  existing 
systems,  to  carry  out  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  in  all  expe 
dient  and  practicable  purity,  by  rendering  that  uniform  rule  of 
naturalization  which  it  conferred  upon  Congress  the  power  to 
establish,  wholesome  in  its  exercise.  All  this  must  be  effected, 
if  at  all,  through  the  regular  legal  organs  of  the  two  houses  of 
Congress,  their  committees  on  the  judiciary.  They  were  nec 
essarily  pioneers  in  this  particular  field  of  legislation.  Laws 
now  defective  were  to  be  amended,  and  plans  of  wisdom,  here 
tofore  inadequately  accomplished,  were  to  be  better  executed. 
Such  was  the  design  of  the  resolutions.  A  counter-proposition 
had  been  submitted,  which  contemplated  something  more  ex 
tensive  than  the  correction  of  errors  and  defects  in  existing 
laws,  or  abuses  in  the  operation  of  them.  It  looked  to  a  fun 
damental  change,  perhaps  in  the  Constitution,  and  certainly  in 
the  laws  themselves.  It  would  not  be  contented  with  less  than 
a  wide  enlargement  of  the  term  of  probation  now  provided  for 
the  intended  citizen,  or,  perhaps,  in  the  not  distant  future,  with 
any  thing  short  of  a  total  denial  of  the  principle  of  adoption, 
and  a  positive  restriction  of  the  enjoyments  of  citizenship  to 
those  only  who  were  of  domestic  birth.  In  support  of  this  latter 
policy  a  new  party  had  been  created,  and  it  was  now,  for  the 
first  time,  the  subject  of  distinct  representation  in  the  House. 
It  not  only  aimed  at  a  particular  object,  an  attainment  of  which 
might  be  compatible  with  existing  parties,  but  it  sought  separ 
ate  organization,  and  a  course  of  action  distinct  from  that  of 
either  of  the  great  political  bodies  which  divided  the  country. 

Rejecting  the  idea  of  the  identity  of  this  new  organization 
with  the  Whig  party,  and  to  illustrate  the  exclusive  tendencies 
of  the  former,  Mr.  Ingersoll  playfully  says, 

"  It  will  not  be  offensive  to  remark  how  carefully  seats  have 
been  selected,  as  much  as  possible  in  a  compact  body,  remote, 
as  it  were,  from  all  association,  except  with  each  other.  No 
such  thing  occurs  with  respect  to  the  other  political  parties. 
They  are  brought  together  in  amicable  connection,  and  an  in 
tercourse  at  once  useful  in  business  and  agreeable  in  the  friend 
ly  feelings  which  it  serves  to  foster,  is  preserved.  For  exam 
ple,  I  find  myself  elbow  to  elbow  with  a  friend  and  colleague 
(Mr.  Thompson)  from  the  remotest  part  of  our  common  state, 
who  is  not  more  remote  from  me  in  local  residence  than  party 


JOSEPH   REED  INGERSOLL.  51 

sentiment.  Immediately  behind  me,  and  almost  in  actual  con 
tact,  sits  another  honored  friend,  the  gentleman  from  Virginia 
(Mr.  Atkinson),  one  of  the  alphas  of  the  House,  whose  vote 
upon  party  questions  it  is  only  necessary  for  me  to  learn,  and, 
by  a  sort  of  chemical  antipathy,  notwithstanding  high  personal 
respect,  it  might  suffice,  for  the  most  part,  to  direct  my  own. 
With  regard  to  all  others,  except  the  few  who  thus  compose  a 
party  distinguished  for  local  solitude  as  well  as  individual 
strength,  it  may  be  said,  in  the  language  of  Eloisa, 

" '  Turtles  and  doves,  of  varying  hues  unite, 
And  glossy  jet  is  paired  with  shining  white.' 

"  Such  is  the  social  communion  of  Whigs  and  Democrats. 
They  harmonize  in  every  thing  but  political  sentiment.  Not  so 
the  third  party,  which  stands  aloof  in  voluntary  seclusion,  if  not 
in  proud  distrust.  It  maintains  a  position  like  that  which,  in 
architecture,  is  said  to  enhance  the  magnificence  of  a  Grecian 
temple ;  when  placed,  as  it  ought  to  be,  on  elevated  ground,  and 
gaining,  by  distance  and  unobstructed  prospect,  at  once  grand 
eur  and  distinctness  for  the  view,  it  stands  unmated  and  alone. 

"  In  casting  my  eye  around  this  diversified  assembly,  I  am 
led  to  compare  its  human  proportions  and  intellectual  varieties 
with  the  natural  phenomena  described  by  travelers,  as  exhibited 
by  that  vast  chain  of  mountains  near  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in 
South  America,  which  arise  in  successive  plateaux,  like  so 
many  huge,  natural  terraces,  far  above  the  clouds.  Trees  of 
the  largest  size  and  most  luxuriant  foliage  grow  and  flourish 
upon  some  of  those  proud  eminences  of  the  Andes,  and  form,  as 
it  were,  the  basis  of  still  loftier  regions  piled  upon  them.  These 
are  emblematic  of  the  Whig  party,  always  fresh  in  vigor,  rich 
in  patriotism,  and  rooted  in  the  immovable  basis  of  the  Consti 
tution.  Among  them  one  appears  crowned  with  years  and 
honors,  green  in  the  maturity  and  venerable  in  the  dignity  of 
age  (Mr.  Adams).  Higher  up,  the  mountain-trees  become  more 
numerous,  but  less  firmly  attached  to  the  soil ;  not  deeply 
planted,  or  standing  in  stern  defiance  of  the  fury  of  the  elements, 
but  moved  and  agitated  by  the  passing  breeze.  These  are  em 
blems  of  a  dominant  majority,  which  yields  conservative  prin 
ciple  to  its  rivals,  and  professes  and  acts  upon  a  different  rule. 
Still  higher  up,  above  the  level  of  perpetual  snow,  where  no 


52  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

other  animated  being  is  found,  far  above  the  habitation,  and  al 
most  beyond  the  curious  gaze  of  the  most  enterprising  traveler, 
dwells  that  mightiest  of  winged  animals,  the  condor,  poised  in 
mid  air  between  the  moon  and  earth,  fixing  its  eye  upon  that 
cold  planet  of  the  night  which  astronomers  assure  us  has  no 
atmosphere,  or  none  common  to  the  rest  of  the  system,  flapping 
in  interminable  seclusion  its  ponderous  and  solitary  wing." 

Mr.  Ingersoll  is  now  serving  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on 
the  Judiciary,  the  direction  of  whose  business  could  not  be  com 
mitted  to  hands  more  capable. 

In  person  he  is  tall  and  slender.  As  a  debater,  he  is  earnest, 
eloquent,  and  graceful,  with  a  cast  of  mind  and  character  more 
adapted,  perhaps,  to  the  highest  order  of  forensic  oratory,  than 
to  the  excited  and  sometimes  rude  discussions  of  the  House  of 
Representatives.  Science  and  the  arts,  knowledge  and  learn 
ing,  in  all  their  various  branches,  have  found  in  him  a  liberal 
patron  and  an  accomplished  advocate.  He  is  a  widower,  and 
has  no  living  children. 


DUNCAN,  DANIEL— 


A  NEW  member.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Shippensburg, 
Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1806. 
His  great-grandfather,  on  the  father's  side,  emigrated  from  Scot 
land,  and  was  among  the  early  settlers  of  Pennsylvania.  From 
him  and  his  brothers  a  large  family  has  descended,  some  branch 
es  of  which  still  remain  in  that  state,  while  others  are  found  in 
Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Kentucky.  His  grandfather,  on  the 
mother's  side,  was  Captain  William  Rippey,  of  the  Revolution 
ary  army,  in  the  Pennsylvania  line. 

His  father  was  a  merchant.  He  died  in  Shippensburg,  Cum 
berland  county,  Pennsylvania,  when  Daniel  was  about  ten  years 
old,  leaving  his  mother  with  a  large  family  in  rather  straitened 
circumstances.  His  oldest  brother,  William,  received  a  com 
mission  in  the.  army  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war  of  1812.  At  its  termination  he  had  been  promoted  to 
the  post  of  captain,  and  was  retained  on  the  peace  establishment. 
He  died  about  the  year  1817,  still  holding  his  commission. 

At  the  death  of  his  father,  Daniel  left  home  with  an  older 
brother,  John  R.,  under  the  direction  of  an  old  friend,  to  seek 
their  fortunes  in  that  land  of  promise,  the  West.  His  brother 
entered  a  store  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  while  he  entered  one  in 
Lancaster.  His  brother  continued  in  the  mercantile  business 
until  the  late  requisition  for  the  ten  regiments,  when  he  raised 
a  company  of  cavalry  which  was  mustered  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  and  took  its  departure  for  Mexico.  He  is 
unmarried,  and  left  a  prosperous  business  to  follow  the  bent  of 
his  own  inclination  in  a  more  adventurous  field.  The  youngest 
of  two  sisters  of  these  gentlemen  is  the  wife  of  Senator  Han- 
negan,  of  Indiana. 

53 


54  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

Daniel  pursued  the  mercantile  business  with  considerable 
success,  and  has  made  himself  independent,  at  least.  He  is  in 
debted  to  no  one  for  aid  in  life,  and  has  depended  on  his  own 
exertions  for  a  livelihood  since  he  was  ten  years  old.  In  1843 
he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature  from  Licking  county. 
He  was  the  first  Whig  ever  elected  from  it ;  for  it  had  previ 
ously  given  a  regular  Democratic  majority  of  eight  to  twelve 
hundred.  While  in  the  Legislature,  he  took  an  active  part  in 
its  business.  He  was  the  first  to  introduce  a  bill  for  an  ad  va 
lorem  system  of  taxation  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  bill  passed 
the  Lower  House,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  but  was  lost  in  the 
Senate.  It  was,  however,  taken  up,  in  all  its  essential  features, 
by  a  succeeding  Legislature,  and  is  now  a  law  of  the  state.  He 
also  introduced  a  bill  to  establish  a  general  banking  law,  which 
met  the  same  fate.  He  also  introduced,  and  succeeded  in  pro 
curing  the  passage  of,  a  bill  reducing  the  pay  of  members  of  the 
Legislature  from  three  to  two  dollars  per  diem,  and  retrenching 
generally  and  largely  the  expenses  of  the  state.  At  the  Whig 
convention  which  assembled  in  the  city  of  Columbus  in  Febru 
ary,  1844,  he  received  a  respectable  vote  for  the  nomination  of 
governor.  In  the  same  year  he  was  the  Whig  candidate  for 
State  Senator,  but,  under  the  high  political  excitement  of  the 
presidential  contest,  he  was  defeated  with  his  party.  In  1846 
he  was  nominated  as  the  candidate  of  the  Whig  party  to  rep 
resent  the  tenth  Congressional  District  of  Ohio,,  and  defeated 
his  opponent,  reducing  the  original  Democratic  majority  of 
Licking  county  from  twelve  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

He  has  always  acted  with  the  Whig  party  except  on  the 
question  of  a  United  States  Bank,  which  institution  he  deemed 
unnecessary.  He  has  been  actively  employed  through  life — a 
man  of  action  rather  than  of  words.  He  has  given  much  of  the 
leisure  of  maturer  life  to  Latin  and  Greek  studies,  as  well  as 
to  history  and  the  lighter  literature  of  the  day.  He  married 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Daniel  Convers,  of  Zanesville,  Ohio, 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  West ;  and  has  four  children  living. 

In  person  he  is  about  the  medium  height,  of  light  complex 
ion,  and  hair,  originally  red,  sprinkled  prematurely  with  white* 


ROOT,    JOSEPH    MOSELEY. 


information  in  regard  to  the  early  career  of  this  gentle 
man  is  very  limited.  He  was  born  on  the  7th  of  October,  1807, 
at  Brutus,  Cayuga  county,  New  York.  He  read  law  with 
Messrs.  Hulbert  and  Smith,  of  Auburn,  and  removed  to  Ohio 
in  1829.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  following  year. 
In  1835  he  was  married  to  Mary  S.  Buckingham,  daughter  of 
John  Buckingham,  formerly  of  the  Wyoming  Valley,  but  now 
of  Ohio,  a  retired  merchant  ;  and  has  four  daughters  living.  In 
1837  he  was  chosen  prosecuting  attorney  of  Huron  county, 
and  in  1840  was  sent  to  the  State  Senate.  In  1844  he  was 
elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
from  the  twenty-first  district  of  Ohio,  composed  of  the  counties 
of  Medina,  Lorain,  Huron,  and  Erie  ;  and  he  was  re-elected  in 
1846.  He  says  "  he  has  always  been  a  Whig." 

He  is  a  stout,  well-made  gentleman,  about  the  medium  height, 
with  a  very  earnest  manner,  and  a  peculiar  intonation  of  voice. 
Gifted  with  strong  natural  powers  of  mind,  and  a  determina 
tion  of  purpose  proof  apparently  against  all  external  influences, 
few  men  seem  actuated  by  a  sterner  sense  of  right,  or  a  more 
conscientious  devotion  to  the  requirements  of  public  duty.  His 
course  as  a  member  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress  was  signal 
ized  by  uniform  and  unrelenting  opposition  to  the  Mexican 
war.  He  is  one  of  the  number  known  as  "  the  immortal  four 
teen"  who  voted  against  the  Declaratory  Act  of  the  13th  of 
May.  [See  title,  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP.]  Speaking  of  that  act, 
he  said, 

"  I  voted  against  it  —  against  its  false  and  sniveling  pream 
ble,  its  vague  and  slavish  appropriation  of  money,  and  its  bar 
barous  spirit  :  I  voted  against  all.  I  was  willing  to  appropri- 

55 


56  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

ate  any  required  amount  of  money  to  pay  for  succors  that  I 
hope  have  reached,  or  may  reach,  General  Taylor's  army  in 
time  to  rescue  it  from  the  imminent  peril  into  which  it  has 
been  brought  by  the  blundering  temerity  of  the  executive ;  but 
that  bill  could  afford  no  relief  to  the  army,  for  it  was  quite  ob 
vious  that  the  fate  of  the  army,  for  weal  or  for  wo,  would  be 
fixed  irrevocably  before  a  musket  or  a  dollar  appropriated  by 
the  bill  could  reach  it.  The  bill  did  not  contemplate  relief  to 
Taylor's  army :  its  object  was  war  ;  and,  sir,  if  by  any  vote  of 
mine  I  could  have  endorsed  its  falsehoods,  or  sanctioned  the 
usurpation  by  the  executive  of  the  constitutional  power  of 
Congress,  as  you  have  done  by  enacting  that  bill  into  a  law,  I 
should  feel  that  I  deserve  all  the  odium  that  some  of  your  friends 
on  this  floor  would  have  me  believe  awaits  me." 

In  every  subsequent  stage  of  its  progress  he  has  opposed  and 
denounced  the  war.  The  sincerity  of  this  opposition  he  has 
manifested  at  times  and  under  circumstances  when  the  nerves 
of  ordinary  men  might  have  quailed.  He  has  shown  himself 
equal  in  all  respects  to  the  responsibility  he  has  assumed.  De 
nying  the  existence  of  just  cause  of  war,  he  asked, 

"  Had  we  good  cause  for  the  war  against  Mexico  at  the  time 
of  its  commencement  ?  Sir,  I  invoke  the  scrutiny  of  the  Search 
er  of  hearts  when  I  declare  that  I  believe  we  had  not.  It  may 
be  that  I  hold  extreme  opinions  on  this  point.  I  confess  that 
I  regard  war  as  so  dreadful  a  curse,  so  unconditionally  con 
demned  by  the  Christian  religion,  by  Christ's  own  words  and 
example,  that  nothing  short  of  the  sternest  necessity  can  justi 
fy  it  in  my  opinion." 

He  has  denounced  its  objects  and  purposes,  which  he  believes 
from  the  outset  to  have  been  conquest  and  aggrandizement,  in 
terms  of  bitterness  and  sarcasm  measured  only  by  an  ever- 
present  recollection  of  what  was  due  to  parliamentary  decorum. 
Its  authors  have  fared  no  better  at  his  hands.  He  has  literally 
"  fed  them  with  wormwood,  and  made  them  drink  the  waters 
of  gall."  In  its  inception  and  its  consequences  he  regards  the 
contest  as  altogether  fraught  with  evil  to  the  country,  and  these 
convictions  he  has  on  all  appropriate  occasions  avowed.  We 
never  saw  the  feelings  of  the  House  more  wrought  upon  than 
when,  speaking  of  the  proposition  to  take  Mexican  territory  by 
way  of  indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  he  said, 


JOSEPH  MOSELEY  ROOT.         57 

"  Do  you  intend  to  charge  Mexico  merely  with  the  money 
and  property  that  you  expend  and  lose,  or  do  you  mean  to  debit 
her  also  with  the  men  you  lose  ?  Will  you  take  strict  account 
of  the  dollars  paid  out,  the  vessels  lost  and  damaged,  the  horses 
killed  and  foundered,  and  say  nothing  of  the  brave  fellows  who 
fall  before  the  cannon  and  the  pestilence  ?  I  do  not  believe  that 
you  mean  to  make  any  account  of  them.  If  you  did,  you  would 
keep  a  better  account  of  them.  You  would  take  more  pains 
to  ascertain  who  fall  in  battle,  who  die  in  the  hospitals,  who 
are  missing.  But,  sir,  if  I  am  in  error,  if  you  do  intend  to 
charge  something  for  them,  how  much  will  it  be  ?  How  much 
land?"  [A  voice,  "  One  hundred  and  sixty  acres."]  "  That 
will  not  do,  sir.  The  question  ought  not  to  be  submitted  to 
this  House ;  it  is  not  fit  to  decide  it.  Go  ask  the  childless 
mother,  go  ask  the  widowed  wife,  go  ask  the  orphan  children 
of  one  of  those  poor  fellows  how  much  Mexican  land  he  was 
worth.  I  will  abide  their  decision.  Sir,  if  you  charge  Mexi 
co  with  the  men  we  have  already  lost,  you  will  have  a  claim 
large  enough  to  take  all  her  territory,  though  it  were  ten  times 
as  broad  as  it  is.  No,  sir,  Mexico  is  not  able  to  pay  for  them ; 
yet  they  must  be  paid  for,  every  man  of  them,  and  at  their  full 
value,  and  you  must  do  it — ay,  you !  the  authors  and  promot 
ers  of  this  war ;  and  though  their  kindred  may  not  be  able  to 
bring  you  to  account,  be  assured  that  He,  without  whose  knowl 
edge  not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground,  will. 

"  Mexico  may  not  submit  readily  to  your  demands,  and,  if 
she  does  not,  what  will  you  do  ?  go  on  conquering  her  depart 
ments  and  slaughtering  her  citizens?  Suppose  you  do,  and 
suppose  that  you  drive  the  last  remnant  of  her  people  within 
the  walls  of  her  last  city ;  suppose  that,  when  you  offer  '  capit 
ulation,'  she  should  have  enough  of  the  old  Castilian  spirit  left 
to  reply,  '  War  to  the  knife !'  and  her  priests  should  divest 
themselves  of  their  sacerdotal  robes,  and  hallow  the  defensive 
war  by  their  participation  as  well  as  by  their  prayers ;  and  her 
daughters  should  cast  their  golden  ornaments  into  the  crucible 
to  come  forth  bullets,  and  themselves  help  to  speed  them  to  the 
hearts  of  our  countrymen,  telling  them,  in  derision,  to  take 
freely  what  they  so  much  covet — I  repeat,  what  will  you  do  ? 
Will  you  exterminate  the  Mexican  race,  without  regard  to  age, 
sex,  or  condition  ?  Will  you  make  the  land  desolate,  that  you 


58  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

may  take  it  to  yourself  ?    When  you  contemplate  these  things, 
do  you  ever  remember  that  God  is  just  ?" 

And  again,  in  the  same  speech : 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  when  you  come  to  annex  the  conquered 
territory  to  the  United  States,  another  question  will  have  to  be 
considered  and  decided :  shall  it  be  free,  or  shall  it  be  slave  ter 
ritory?  And  here,  and  now,  I  propose  to  say  something  on 
this  question.  I  shall,  I  trust,  speak  with  candor,  but  I  mean 
to  speak  with  freedom.  So  long  as  you  confined  this  question 
of  slavery  to  the  states,  I  admit  that  Congress  could  rightfully 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it ;  but,  sir,  you  have  not  kept  it 
there.  You  have  brought  it  here,  and  made  it  one  of  national 
concernment.  It  lies  at  the  foundation,  and  enters  into  every 
part  of  the  superstructure  of  this  war,  and  I  do  not  feel  called 
upon  to  make  any  excuses  for  discussing  it,  so  far  as  it  is  con 
nected  with  the  subject  in  hand.  The  people  of  most  (I  will 
not  say  all)  of  the  free  states  are  resolved  to  prevent  the  an 
nexation  to  this  Union  of  any  more  slave  territory,  if  they  can. 
You  may  call  it  fanaticism,  or  treason,  or,  what  some  gentle 
men  seem  to  regard  as  worse  than  either,  federalism,  it  will 
not  change  their  determination,  nor  distract  them  on  this  ques 
tion.  They  will  be  united  as  one  man,  and  they  expect  their 
representatives  to  carry  out  their  views  in  good  faith.  When 
the  question  of  annexing  more  slave  territory  comes  before  this 
House,  Northern  representatives  must  be  here.  It  will  not  do 
to  be  sick,  nor  to  have  a  family  sick,  nor  to  go  abroad  on  busi 
ness  then.  They  must  be  here  in  their  places,  and  they  must 
vote,  and  they  must  vote  right.  They  must  disregard  the 
'  gag.'  They  must  disregard  the  *  organ.'  They  must  disre 
gard  the  '  party.'  Woe  to  the  Northern  representative  who 
shall  prove  recreant,  or  falter  on  that  question.  Mr.  Polk  has 
not  a  land-office  so  far  in  the  wilderness,  a  sub-treasury  so 
deep  and  strong,  nor  a  mission  so  distant,  as  that  it  will  pro 
tect  him  from  the  wrath  of  his  constituents.  It  will  follow  him 
to  his  grave,  and  his  children  to  the  fourth  generation." 

The  question  was  mooted  by  Mr.  Sawyer,  in  a  discussion  in 
the  House,  whether  the  constituents  of  Mr.  Root  had  sustained 
him  in  his  opposition  to  the  war.  In  1844,  the  date  of  his 
first  election  to  Congress,  he  received  about  five  hundred  more 
votes  than  his  Democratic  competitor ;  but  as  the  "  Liberty" 


JOSEPH   MOSELEY  ROOT.  59 

candidate  received  about  one  thousand,  Mr.  Root  did  not  get 
a  majority  of  the  votes  cast  in  his  district.  In  1846,  the  date 
of  his  last  election,  there  were  about  nine  hundred  and  seventy 
more  votes  given  for  him  than  for  the  Democratic  candidate, 
the  "  Liberty"  candidate  receiving  about  fifteen  hundred.  On 
this  state  of  facts,  Mr.  Sawyer  insisted  that  Mr.  Root's  constit 
uents  had  not  sustained  his  course  on  the  war.  This  declara 
tion  led  to  an  inquiry  by  Mr.  Giddings  (Mr.  Root  not  being,  at 
the  moment,  in  his  seat),  whether  Mr.  Sawyer  supposed  that 
the  "  Liberty"  men,  who  had  voted  for  their  own  candidate, 
were  in  favor  of  the  war.  Mr.  Sawyer  replied  that  he  pre 
sumed  they  were  not,  but  that  they  and  Mr.  Root  were  alike 
opposed  to  it. 

At  the  present  session  Mr.  Root  has  been  appointed  by  the 
speaker  chairman  of  two  committees — the  Committee  on  the 
Post-office  and  Post-roads,  and  the  Committee  on  Expenditures 
in  the  Treasury  Department. 


DOUGLAS,  STEPHEN  ARNOLD  (SENATOR). 

JL  HE  State  of  Illinois  has  recently  elevated  this  gentleman  to 
a  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  If  perfect  fidelity  to 
his  constituents,  to  his  state,  and  to  the  Democratic  cause,  sus 
tained  by  an  ability  which  all  must  concede,  and  an  energy 
which  has  never  drooped,  may  constitute  a  passport  to  the  dis 
tinguished  body  of  which  he  is  a  member,  no  man  can  exhibit 
a  more  respectable  title.  Our  own  knowledge  of  him  is  con 
fined  almost  entirely  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  which 
connection,  mainly,  it  now  becomes  our  duty  to  speak  of  him. 

He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Brandon,  Rutland  county,  Ver 
mont,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1813.  His  father,  Doctor  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  was  a  native  of  Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  and 
removed  with  his  father's  family  to  the  State  of  Vermont  in 
early  life.  He  was  educated  at  Middlebury  College,  and  be 
came  a  physician  of  considerable  eminence.  He  died  on  the 
1st  of  July,  1813,  suddenly,  of  apoplexy,  leaving  two  child 
ren — a  daughter  twenty  months  old,  and  Stephen  A.,  then  lit 
tle  over  two*months  old. 

His  mother,  Sally  Fisk,  was  the  daughter  of  an  extensive 
farmer  in  Brandon.  On  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  removed 
with  her  children  to  a  farm  which  she  and  an  unmarried  brother 
had  inherited  from  their  father.  This  brother  was  a  bachelor, 
and  was  supposed  to  entertain  a  mortal  aversion  to  the  whole 
female  race,  with  the  solitary  exception  of  his  favorite  sister, 
whose  bereavement  had  induced  her  to  rejoin  him  in  the  old 
family  mansion. 

For  many  years  the  brother  and  sister,  with  the  two  children, 
whom  the  former  had  already  adopted  as  his  own,  designing 
to  make  them  heirs  of  his  entire  estate,  lived  in  seclusion  and 
contentment  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Green  Mountains, 
practicing  the  most  rigid  economy  and  industry  for  the  purpose 
of  insuring  a  liberal  competency  to  those  favorite  children.  The 
value  of  the  property  was  enhanced  every  succeeding  year,  and 
60 


ByJF.E.Prud'homme.frorri  a  Daguerreotype 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  61 

the  prospects  of  the  children  became  constantly  more  promis 
ing. 

After  the  lapse  of  about  fourteen  years,  the  eccentric  bache 
lor  uncle  took  it  into  his  head  that  he  had  worked  hard  enough, 
and  made  money  enough,  to  afford  to  take  a  little  recreation, 
and  make  a  visit  to  some  relatives  in  the  western  part  of  New 
York,  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
In  a  few  months  he  returned,  and  introduced  to  his  sister  and 
adopted  children  a  young  and  beautiful  wife,  who  became  a 
great  favorite  with  the  family. 

Time  rolled  on,  and  in  the  fourth  quarter  of  the  ensuing 
year  the  wife  presented  her  devoted  husband  with  a  son. 
About  the  same  time,  as  the  future  will  reveal,  the  sun  of  the 
adopted  children's  hopes  set  in  darkness. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  was  at  this  time  about  fifteen  years  of 
age.  He  had  received  a  good  common-school  education,  and 
thought  that  the  period  had  arrived  when  he  ought  to  prepare 
himself  for  college,  according  to  the  understanding  which  was 
well  known  to  exist  in  the  family.  After  consultation  with  his 
mother j  application  was  made  to  his  good  old  uncle  to  send  him 
to  the  academy  preparatory  to  entering  college.  The  old  gen 
tleman  seemed  instantly  confounded.  He  hesitated,  stammer 
ed,  and  then,  in  the  most  affectionate  manner,  told  his  nephew 
how  much  he  loved  him — how  anxious  he  had  been  to  provide 
for  his  education,  and  even  to  give  him  his  entire  fortune ;  but 
added  that  he  was  really  too  poor.  Besides,  he  said,  he  had  a 
family  of  his  own,  for  which,  by  the  laws  of  nature,  he  was 
compelled  to  provide.  He  therefore  advised  his  nephew  to  aban 
don  the  foolish  idea  of  going  to  college,  where  he  would  only 
form  habits  of  idleness  and  dissipation,  and  urged  him  to  remain 
with  him  on  the  farm,  assuring  him  that  he  would  treat  him 
kindly,  and  do  well  by  him  in  the  end. 

For  the  first  time,  the  eyes  of  the  youth  were  opened  to  his 
true  condition  in  life.  His  dreams  had  faded,  his  hopes  were 
blasted,  the  fortune  was  gone,  and,  with  it,  the  means  of  pro 
curing  an  education.  The  farm,  stock,  improvements,  the 
land  which  had  been  purchased,  and  the  profits  for  fifteen  years, 
were  all  held  in  his  uncle's  name.  Of  course,  they  were  his. 
True,  his  mother  still  had  a  farm  in  the  neighborhood,  the  soil 
of  which  was  nearly  worn  out,  and  the  improvements  gone  to 


62  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

ruin.  This  would  hardly  yield  enough  to  support  her  and  her 
daughter. 

In  this  condition  of  affairs,  he  resolved  immediately  to  leave 
his  uncle,  whom,  he  says,  he  still  loved,  because  of  his  continued 
kindness  to  his  mother  and  sister,  and  to  rely  upon  his  own 
exertions.  With  the  reluctant  and  almost  extorted  consent 
of  his  mother,  he  went  to  Middlebury,  and  entered  the  shop 
of  Nahum  Parker  as  an  apprentice  to  the  cabinet  business. 
Having  been  raised  on  a  farm,  and  accustomed  to  the  most  reg 
ular  habits  of  industry,  he  found  the  labors  of  the  shop  in  no 
degree  irksome  or  fatiguing.  Gifted  with  no  inconsiderable 
mechanical  genius,  he  found  his  occupation  agreeable  to  his 
tastes;  and  has  often  been  heard  to  say,  since  in  Congress, 
that  his  happiest  days  had  been  spent  in  the  workshop,  and 
that  the  bitterest  hour  of  his  life  was  that  in  which  the  loss  of 
health  compelled  him  to  leave  it.  He  remained  with  Mr.  Par- 
ker  some  six  or  eight  months,  devoting  himself  closely  to  his 
business,  and  making  a  rapid  proficiency  in  the  "  art"  of  the 
trade.  He  gave  entire  satisfaction  to  his  employer,  and  is  be 
lieved  to  have  been  a  great  favorite  with  his  brother  apprenti 
ces.  He  was  himself  well  pleased  with  his  situation ;  but  a 
misunderstanding  arose  between  him  and  his  employer  in  con 
sequence  of  being  required  to  perform  certain  services,  which 
he  considered  menial,  but  which  the  latter  insisted  it  was  usual 
to  require  the  youngest  apprentice  to  perform. 

Unable  to  reconcile  this  difference,  the  youth  gave  his  em 
ployer  notice  that  he  should  leave  him,  and  accordingly  did  so. 
He  makes  no  other  complaint  of  Mr.  Parker  than  that  which 
we  have  noticed,  and  speaks  of  him  in  terms  of  kindness  as  a 
worthy  and  respectable  citizen. 

Being  devoted  to  the  trade  which  he  had  selected  as  the 
business  of  his  life,  the  apprentice  boy  immediately  returned  to 
his  native  town,  and  entered  the  cabinet  shop  of  Deacon  Caleb 
Knowlton,  with  whom  he  remained  nearly  a  year,  and  would 
have  continued  until  he  attained  his  majority  if  his  health  had 
permitted.  During  the  last  two  months  of  the  time  he  was 
employed  in  making  French  bedsteads  of  curled  maple,  a  very 
hard  labor,  which  proved  too  severe  for  his  delicate  constitution. 
Failing  health  compelled  him  to  leave  the  shop ;  a  step  which 
he  took  under  the  advice  of  his  employer,  and  with  the  under- 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  63 

standing  that  he  should  return  as  soon  as  his  health  should  be 
restored.  In  the  mean  time  he  became  a  student  in  the  Bran 
don  Academy,  under  the  superintendence  of  J.  N.  Chipman, 
where  he  remained  one  year.  Finding  his  health  but  slightly 
improved,  it  was  agreed  between  Deacon  Knowlton  and  him 
self  that  he  should  not  return  to  the  shop,  as  it  was  now  cer 
tain  that  he  would  never  be  able  to  follow  the  trade  as  a  per 
manent  occupation ;  and,  upon  the  advice  of  friends,  he  deter 
mined  to  revive  his  original  plan  of  securing  an  education,  and 
devoting  himself  to  a  profession. 

His  sister,  to  whom  he  was  greatly  attached,  had,  in  the 
mean  time,  been  married  to  Julius  N.  Granger,  and  moved  to 
Ontario  county,  New  York.  About  this  period  his  mother 
was  married  to  Gehazi  Granger,  father  of  Julius,  and  moved 
to  the  same  place,  where  the  family  now  resides.  Stephen 
accompanied  her  to  New  York,  and  immediately  became  a  stu 
dent  in  the  Canandaigua  Academy,  then,  as  now,  under  the 
superintendence  of  that  deservedly  popular  and  distinguished 
teacher,  Professor  Henry  Howe,  where  he  continued  to  pursue 
his  classical  studies  until  the  spring  of  1833.  He  also  entered 
the  law  office  of  the  Messrs.  Hubbell,  of  Canandaigua,  and 
pursued  his  law  studies  at  the  same  time  that  he  kept  up  his 
academical  course.  During  this  time  his  mind  evinced  that 
strong  inclination  toward  politics  which  has  marked  the  great 
er  portion  of  his  subsequent  career.  Indeed,  even  while  an 
apprentice  boy  at  Middlebury,  during  the  canvass  of  Jackson 
and  Adams  in  1828,  he  is  known  to  have  been  a  very  enthu 
siastic  admirer  of  the  former,  and,  in  company  with  several 
other  boys  who  participated  in  the  same  feeling,  was  very  con 
spicuous  and  active  on  election  day  in  tearing  down  the  "  coffin 
handbills"  which  the  boys  of  the  opposition  were  posting  upon 
the  houses  and  other  conspicuous  places  in  all  parts  of  the  town. 
The  result  of  this  youthful  struggle  was,  that,  after  many  a  se 
vere  conflict,  none  of  the  handbills,  when  the  day  closed,  were 
to  be  seen  in  the  town.  Soon  afterward  he  became  a  warm 
supporter  of  the  principles  and  measures  of  General  Jackson's 
administration,  advocated  his  re-election  to  the  presidency,  and 
was  identified  with  the  Democratic  party  of  the  town  in  their 
political  organization  and  meetings. 

In  the  spring  of  1833  he  turned  his  footsteps  toward  the 


64  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

great  West,  in  search  of  a  more  favorable  location  for  the  prac 
tice  of  the  profession,  in  the  study  of  which  he  had  already 
made  some  progress.     He  landed  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where 
he  presented  several  letters  of  introduction.     Among  them  was 
one  to  S.  J.  Andrews,  a  lawyer  of  some  distinction,  and  since 
that  time  a  member  of  Congress.     In  a  few  days  he  had  the 
good  luck  to  make  an  arrangement  with  Mr.  Andrews,  by 
which  he  was  to  study  in  his  office  for  one  year,  rendering  him 
such  assistance  in  writing  and  preparing  office  papers  as  he 
should  require ;  and  at  the  end  of  that  time,  when,  according  to 
the  law  of  Ohio,  he  would  be  entitled  to  a  license,  he  was  to  be 
associated  with  Mr.  Andrews  in  business.     This  arrangement 
seemed  exceedingly  favorable,  and  held  out  a  bright  prospect 
for  the  future.     Mr.  Douglas  had  left  home  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  himself  well  in  business,  and  had  avowed  his  de 
termination  never  to  return  until  he  had  accomplished  this  ob 
ject.     Success  seemed  to  have  crowned  his  efforts  almost  in  ad 
vance,  and  he  was  astonished  at  his  own  good  fortune.     But 
in  one  week  more  he  found  himself  prostrate  with  the  rheuma 
tism,  and  in  another  with  the  bilious  fever.     Between  the  two 
diseases  he  was  confined  to  his  bed  the  entire  summer,  and  at 
one  time  with  little  hope  of  life.     The  frosts  of  winter,  howev 
er,  revived  him.     Still  feeble,  nearly  out  of  money,  living  in 
dread  of  the  return  of  the  fever  in  the  spring,  the  prospect 
was  gloomy,  and  well  calculated  to  turn  his  thoughts,  and  even 
his  footsteps,  toward  home,  where  an  anxious  welcome  await 
ed  him.     But  there,  before  him,  rose  up  his  avowed  purpose 
not  to  return  until  he  should  have  accomplished  the  object  of 
his  mission ! 

At  length  he  left  Cleveland  in  search  of  a  resting-place,  he 
knew  not  where.  He  found  himself  successively  at  Cincinnati, 
Louisville,  St.  Louis,  and  Jacksonville,  Illinois.  His  health 
was  now  nearly  restored,  and  necessity  compelled  him  to  seek 
some  employment  in  order  to  pay  his  current  expenses.  Feel 
ing  that  labor  was  honorable,  he  was  ready  to  engage  in  any 
respectable  pursuit.  The  only  one  which  seemed  to  promise 
any  success  in  relieving  his  immediate  necessities  was  that  of 
a  common-school  teacher.  Acting  upon  this  idea,  he  started 
out  into  the  country  in  search  of  a  school,  and  one  afternoon 
walked  into  the  little  town  of  Winchester,  situated  about  six- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  65 

teen  miles  from  Jacksonville.  A  youth  of  twenty  years,  in  a 
strange  land,  fifteen  hundred  miles  from  home,  in  feeble  health, 
without  friends,  and  with  but  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents  in 
his  pocket,  it  might  be  supposed  that  his  situation  was  embar 
rassing;  but  he  says  it  was  not  so.  His  spirits  were  never 
more  buoyant.  The  morning  after  his  arrival,  and  before  his 
name  was  even  known  to  a  human  being,  he  went  out  in  search 
of  employment,  and,  discovering  a  large  number  of  persons  as 
sembled  in  the  public  square  of  the  village,  dressed  in  the  real 
frontier  style,  his  curiosity  naturally  led  him  to  approach  a 
scene  so  novel.  The  object  of  the  assemblage  was  soon  ex 
plained.  A  merchant  in  the  place  had  recently  died,  and  the 
people  had  assembled  to  attend  the  auction  sale  of  his  goods. 
The  administrator  was  present  with  his  auctioneer,  and  all  the 
arrangements  for  the  grand  auction  were  completed,  except 
that  a  clerk  was  wanting  to  keep  the  account  of  sale.  The 
hour  had  arrived,  the  people  were  waiting  impatiently,  bidders 
plenty  were  present,  but  all  business  was  suspended  for  want 
of  a  clerk,  a  man  who  could  write  a  plain  hand,  add  up  figures, 
and  keep  the  accounts.  There  lay  the  difficulty. 

At  length  the  eyes  of  the  multitude  were  directed  toward 
the  young  stranger,  and  the  administrator,  approaching  him  in 
the  most  respectful  manner,  explained  his  embarrassing  situa 
tion,  solicited  him  to  consent  to  become  clerk  of  the  auction, 
adding  that,  besides  remunerating  him  well  for  his  services,  he 
would  consider  the  act  a  personal  favor  to  himself  and  to  the 
people  present. 

After  some  hesitation  and  much  solicitation,  Mr.  Douglas 
was  duly  installed  clerk  of  the  auction,  with  a  salary  of  two 
dollars  per  day,  and  performed  his  duties  to  the  perfect  satis 
faction  of  the  people  for  the  three  days  of  the  sale.  This  was 
a  glorious  beginning ;  only  three  days  in  town,  with  six  dollars 
in  his  pocket,  and  numerous  friends  sounding  his  praises,  and 
urging  him  to  remain  among  them ! 

He  had  made  known  his  wish  to  obtain  a  school  with  forty 
scholars,  at  three  dollars  a  quarter  each.  This  object  was  se 
cured,  and  the  arrangements  were  all  made  for  commencing  on 
the  following  Monday.  Accordingly,  on  the  first  Monday  of 
December,  1833,  he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  a  school  teacher. 
His  evenings  he  devoted  to  the  study  of  some  old  law  books. 

VOL.  L— E 


66  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

which  he  had  borrowed  of  a  friend  in  Jacksonville  ;  and  frequent 
ly,  on  Saturday  afternoon,  was  employed  in  cases  before  the  just 
ice  of  the  peace  of  the  town.  The  proceeds  of  his  school  and 
law  practice,  during  the  three  months  for  which  he  had  engaged 
himself,  were  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  open  an  office,  and  be 
gin  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  the  higher  courts.  This  he 
did  in  the  month  of  March,  1834,  having  obtained  license  for 
that  purpose,  after  examination,  from  the  judges  of  the  Su 
preme  Court. 

His  first  efforts  in  his  profession  were  remarkably  successful 
in  securing  and  conducting  business.  This  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that,  in  less  than  one  year,  he  was  elected,  by  a 
joint  vote  of  the  two  houses  of  the  Legislature,  State's  Attor 
ney,  over  the  lamented  Colonel  John  J.  Hardin,  who  gloriously 
gave  his  life  to  his  country  on  the  memorable  field  of  Buena 
Vista.  Be  the  grave  of  the  soldier  honored  forever ! 

The  duties  of  this  office  imposed  upon  Mr.  Douglas  the  high 
est  responsibilities.  As  the  public  prosecutor  in  all  criminal 
cases,  he  was  necessarily  brought  in  immediate  contact  and  col 
lision  with  the  first  lawyers  of  the  state.  At  this  time,  and  in 
this  office,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  whatever  reputation  he 
may  since  have  attained  in  his  own  state  as  a  lawyer  and  ju 
rist.  His  extreme  youth,  being  but  in  his  twenty-second  year, 
and  his  comparative  inexperience,  warned  him  of  the  necessity 
of  the  most  untiring  and  systematic  application  to  his  books ; 
and  his  great  success  in  the  most  important  criminal  as  well  as 
civil  cases,  against  learned  and  able  competitors,  gave  him  con 
fidence  that  application,  energy,  and  industry  would  eventually 
triumph  over  obstacles  which  seemed  almost  insurmountable. 

He  resigned  the  office  of  State's  Attorney  in  December,  1836, 
to  accept  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  his  state,  to  which  he 
had  been  elected  by  the  people  of  the  county  in  which  he  resi 
ded.  The  canvass  preceding  this  election  was  attended  by  an 
unusual  degree  of  political  excitement,  and  was  conducted  with 
great  energy  by  the  opposing  candidates.  The  county  of  Mor 
gan  was  the  largest  in  the  state,  nearly  equally  divided  in  pol 
itics,  and  sent  six  representatives  to  the  Legislature.  Mr. 
Douglas,  in  the  first  instance,  declined  the  nomination  tendered 
by  the  convention  of  his  party,  preferring  to  retain  the  office  of 
State's  Attorney,  and  to  devote  himself  exclusively  to  his  pro- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  67 

fession,  assuring  his  friends,  however,  that  he  would  attend  the 
public  meetings,  and  render  the  Democratic  cause  and  candi 
date  the  same  aid  that  he  would  be  able  to  render  if  he  were 
himself  on  the  ticket.  In  consequence  of  his  earnest  solicita 
tions,  a  full  ticket  was  presented  to  the  people  without  his 
name.  The  Whigs  presented  a  strong  ticket  of  their  best  men, 
with  the  popular  name  of  John  J.  Hardin  at  its  head.  The  ap 
pearance  of  Mr.  Douglas  on  the  stump,  as  the  champion  of  the 
Democracy,  in  support  of  a  ticket  which  did  not  contain  his 
name,  was  calculated  to  produce  a  prejudice  against  himself 
as  well  as  his  party,  and  to  create  the  impression  on  the  minds 
of  the  people  that  the  Democratic  candidates  were  incompetent 
to  the  defense  of  themselves  and  their  cause.  .Besides,  it  was 
frequently  intimated,  and  sometimes  openly  said,  that  Mr. 
Douglas,  who  had  succeeded  in  defeating  Colonel  Hardin  be 
fore  the  Legislature,  dare  not  run  against  him  before  the  peo 
ple  of  the  county  in  which  they  both  resided.  These  consid 
erations  led  to  a  reorganization  of  the  Democratic  ticket,  by 
which  one  of  the  candidates  declined,  and  the  name  of  Douglas 
was  substituted  in  his  place. 

This  arrangement  placed  the  names  of  Douglas  and  Hardin 
at  the  head  of  their  respective  tickets,  and  produced  one  of  the 
most  exciting  and  interesting  contests  ever  known  in  the  state. 
Each  took  the  ground  distinctly  and  boldly,  that  he  did  not  de 
sire  an  election  himself  unless  by  the  complete  triumph  of  his 
party,  in  which  the  entire  ticket  should  also  be  elected.  In 
this,  however,  they  were  both  disappointed  to  some  extent ;  for, 
when  the  votes  were  counted,  it  was  ascertained  that  Mr. 
Douglas,  and  all  the  Democratic  candidates  save  one,  were 
elected,  but  that  Colonel  Hardin  had  beaten  the  lowest  Dem 
ocratic  candidate,  and  was  also  elected.  This  canvass,  and 
the  courteous  manner  in  which  it  was  conducted  by  the  two 
leading  spirits,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  personal  friendship  be 
tween  them,  which  continued  uninterrupted,  and  grew  stronger 
until  the  hour  of  the  colonel's  death. 

On  the  first  Monday  in  December,  1836,  Mr.  Douglas  took 
his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  his 
adopted  state — the  youngest  member  of  the  body.  It  was  a 
very  important  session ;  perhaps  more  so,  in  its  consequences, 
than  any  that  had  occurred  in  the  annals  of  the  state.  The 


68  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

same  causes  which  had  produced  the  wild  mania  of  speculation, 
over-banking,  and  over-trading  in  other  states,  had  pervaded 
the  whole  West,  and  were  then  in  active  operation  in  Illinois. 
The  banking  capital  of  the  state  was  more  than  doubled  during 
that  session ;  the  number  of  banking  houses  were  increased,  and 
their  powers  and  privileges  extended  in  the  same  proportion. 
The  state  became  a  joint  partner  in  these  institutions,  and 
subscribed  more  than  one  half  of  the  capital  stock,  while  the 
individual  stockholders  retained  the  preponderance  of  power  in 
all  the  directories.  The  banks  were  made  the  fiscal  agents  of 
the  state  in  receiving,  keeping,  and  disbursing  the  revenues 
and  school  fund  of  the  state,  and,  in  short,  the  alliance  of  bank 
and  state  was  complete.  Mr.  Douglas  opposed  the  entire  sys 
tem  :  he  opposed  the  increase  of  the  capital  stock ;  the  sub 
scription  on  the  part  of  the  state ;  the  increase  of  the  number 
of  branches  and  offices  of  discount,  two  of  which  were,  by  the 
law,  located  in  his  own  town ;  opposed  the  union  of  bank  and 
state,  and,  in  short,  opposed  the  creation  of  all  new  banks,  and 
all  extensions  of  the  powers  and  privileges  of  the  old  ones.  His 
principles  and  course  of  action  on  these  matters  were  radical 
and  inflexible.  He  was  overruled  by  decided  majorities  in  both 
branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  the  new  system  went  into 
operation  about  February,  1837. 

It  is  not  our  province  to  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  the  -wis 
dom  or  propriety  of  those  measures.  Our  only  business  is 
with  facts,  leaving  the  reader  to  his  own  conclusions. 

All  the  tanks  in  Illinois  suspended  specie  payments  in  May 
of  the  same  year,  about  three  months  after  these  laws  had 
gone  into  operation.  Their  paper  subsequently  depreciated  sixty 
cents  on  the  dollar  ;  and,  after  the  banks  had  remained  in  a  state 
of  suspension  some  four  or  five  years,  their  charters  were  re 
pealed,  and  their  business  was  ordered  to  be  wound  up  by  an 
act  of  the  Legislature. 

Next  to  the  banking  system,  the  question  of  internal  im 
provements  was  the  most  important  that  came  before  the  Leg 
islature  during  that  session.  The  state  had  previously  under 
taken  and  commenced  the  construction  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal — one  of  the  most  magnificent  works  of  the 
kind  in  the  Union— connecting  the  line  of  northern  lakes  at 
Chicago  with  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Illinois  and  Missis- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  69 

sippi  Rivers.  Mr.  Douglas  was  an  active  and  zealous  support 
er  of  this  great  work,  and  took  a  deeper  interest  in  its  suc 
cess  than  in  any  other  measure  before  the  Legislature.  The 
friends  of  the  work  were  nearly  equally  divided  into  two  par 
ties,  advocating  different  plans  for  accomplishing  the  same  end. 
The  one  supported  the  plan  of  feeding  the  canal  with  the  wa 
ters  of  Lake  Michigan,  by  a  deep  excavation  some  thirty  miles 
through  the  dividing  ridge  which  separates  the  waters  flowing 
into  the  St.  Lawrence  from  those  flowing  into  the  Mississippi 
and  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  running  the  canal  parallel  with,  and 
on,  the  immediate  banks  of  the  Illinois  River  to  Peru,  its  pres 
ent  termination,  instead  of  improving  the  navigation  of  the  river 
for  steamboats  that  distance  by  locks  and  dams.  The  other 
party  advocated  a  canal  upon  the  surface  across  the  dividing 
ridge,  supplied  in  the  usual  mode  from  the  adjacent  streams, 
and  the  improvement  of  the  Illinois  River  by  locks  and  dams 
for  steamboats.  It  was  admitted  at  that  time,  and  is  not,  we 
believe,  questioned  at  this  day,  that  the  latter  plan  would  cost 
three  millions  of  dollars  less  than  the  former,  and  could  be  con 
structed  several  years  sooner.  This  latter  plan,  known  as  the 
"  slack  and  shallow  cut,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  "  old  deep- 
cut"  plan,  Mr.  Douglas  supported.  Some  of  the  ablest  speeches 
of  his  life  are  said  to  have  been  made  upon  this  question ;  and 
he  held  a  majority  of  the  House  in  favor  of  his  plan  for  about 
six  weeks,  while  a  majority  of  the  Senate  adhered  firmly  to  the 
other.  Finding  that  this  difference  of  opinion  among  the  friends 
of  the  measure  might  hazard  its  success  in  any  shape,  a  few 
members  yielded  their  preferences,  and  the  favorite  plan  of  Mr. 
Douglas  was  defeated.  The  other  plan,  after  having  under 
gone  some  important  modifications  by  a  committee,  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  was  adopted.  It  received  his  vote,  because  he 
preferred  that  plan  to  the  loss  of  the  measure.  Under  this  law, 
the  work  proceeded  for  several  years,  until  the  resources  and 
credit  of  the  state  failed,  when  it  was  suspended  for  want  of 
means.  It  has  since  been  revived  by  an  arrangement  between 
the  state  and  its  creditors.  The  "  deep-cut"  plan  was  imme 
diately  abandoned,  as  unwise  and  impracticable  in  the  present 
condition  of  the  state  finances.  We  have  reason  to  believe, 
upon  the  authority  of  one  holding  a  position  which  gives  sanc 
tion  to  what  he  may  say,  that  that  part  of  Mr.  Douglas's  plan 


70  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

which  proposed  to  lock  and  dam  the  Illinois  River  would  have 
been  adopted,  if  the  work  had  not  been  so  nearly  finished  on 
that  part  of  the  line. 

His  course  on  this  question,  however,  rendered  him  for  sev 
eral  years  very  unpopular  in  that  section  of  the  state  through 
which  the  canal  runs,  and  lost  him  many  votes  for  Congress 
two  years  afterward.  The  people  there  opposed  him  at  that 
time  as  violently  as  they  have  since  cordially  approved  his 
course.  They  now  believe  that  if  his  opinions  had  prevailed 
in  1836,  this  great  work  would  have  been  long  since  finished, 
and  the  state  relieved  from  much  of  its  embarrassment.  They 
have  since  done  him  justice  by  giving  him  their  unanimous  sup 
port  in  his  election  last  year  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

During  the  same  session,  the  great  Illinois  rail-road  system 
wa~s  adopted.  It  was  the  era  of  grand  and  magnificent  projects, 
and  the  mania  seems  to  have  pervaded  the  whole  people  as  well 
as  legislatures  and  city  councils.  The  people  of  Illinois  demand 
ed  a  general  system  of  internal  improvements.  Two  plans  were 
presented  to  the  Legislature.  The  one  provided  that  the  state 
should  subscribe  one  third  or  one  half  of  the  stock  in  all  compa 
nies  which  had  been  or  should  be  chartered  by  the  Legislature, 
and  that  individuals  should  subscribe  the  other  half  or  two 
thirds,  as  the  case  might  be,  and  should  have  the  controlling 
power  in  the  companies.  A  list  of  the  companies  in  existence, 
and  pending  before  that  Legislature,  for  internal  improvements, 
shows  an  aggregate  capital  stock  of  more  than  fifty  millions  of 
dollars ;  the  corporators  were  authorized  to  organize  their  re 
spective  companies  by  paying  from  one  to  five  dollars  on  a  share 
of  one  hundred  dollars,  and  could  then  have  called  upon  the 
state  for  its  subscription.  It  was  objected  to  this  plan  that  the 
state  would  furnish  all  the  money  without  the  power  to  control 
its  application.  The  other  plan  proposed  that  the  state  should 
make,  own,  and  control  the  works.  Mr.  Douglas  supported 
the  last  of  these  plans,  and  early  in  the  session  proposed  a  se 
ries  of  resolutions  indicating  his  individual  views  upon  the  sub 
ject.  They  are  as  follows : 

1st.  That  the  Legislature  should  provide  for  a  general  sys 
tem  of  internal  improvements,  to  be  constructed  and  owned  by 
the  state. 

2d.  That  the  system  be  composed  of  the  following  works  : 


STEPHEN    ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  71 

1.  The  completion  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal. 

2.  The  northern  cross  rail-road,  from  Quincy  on  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  to  the  Indiana  line  in  the  direction  of  Lafayette. 

3.  The  central  rail-road,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  to  Ga 
lena. 

4.  That  surveys  and  estimates  should  be  made  of  such  other 
works  as  should  be  deemed  advisable,  to  be  reported  to  a  sub 
sequent  session  of  the  Legislature  for  future  action. 

The  plan  adopted  differs  from  the  one  proposed  in  this  respect, 
that  all  the  rail-roads  were  to  be  commenced  and  prosecuted  at 
once,  instead  of  confining  the  resources  of  the  soil  to  two  roads, 
and  making  surveys  and  estimates  to  enlighten  future  legisla 
tion  as  to  the  numerous  others. 

Mr.  Douglas,  then,  proposed  to  finish  the  canal,  make  two 
rail-roads,  and  provide  surveys  and  estimates  on  the  other  routes 
for  the  information  of  subsequent  legislatures.  But,  instead 
of  two,  a  bill  was  reported  for  eight  rail-roads,  all  to  be  com 
menced  and  prosecuted  at  the  same  time.  They  were  all  em 
bodied  in  one  bill,  and  must  all  have  been  adopted  or  all  rejected. 
He  stood  pledged  to  his  constituents  to  support  a  general  sys 
tem  of  internal  improvements,  and  was,  moreover,  instructed 
to  support  the  bill  before  the  House,  notwithstanding  his  indi 
vidual  opinions  as  expressed  in  his  resolutions.  The  bill,  which 
was  adopted  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  received  his  vote. 

Besides  these  leading  questions,  Mr.  Douglas  took  a  promi 
nent  part  in  the  general  legislation.  He  was  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Petitions,  which  was  one  of  the  most  laborious 
in  the  House. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  he  received 
a  commission  from  the  President  of  the  United  States,  appoint 
ing  him,  by  the  advice  of  the  Senate,  Register  of  the  Land- 
office  at  Springfield,  Illinois.  He  had  not  been  an  applicant 
for  the  office,  and  hesitated  some  time  before  accepting  it.  He 
was  anxious  to  return  to  his  profession,  and  make  that  the 
business  of  his  life  among  the  people  who  had  received  him  so 
kindly  when  a  stranger,  and  had  honored  him  with  their  con 
fidence  by  making  him  their  representative.  The  advice  of  his 
friends,  that  to  accept  the  office  would  promote  his  pecuniary 
interests,  without  materially  interfering  with  his  professional 
business,  and  would,  at  the  same  time,  enable  him  to  serve  his 


72  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

old  friends  in  a  different  capacity,  at  length  prevailed,  and  he 
entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  new  duties  in  April,  1837. 
He  retained  this  office  for  two  years,  and  then  resigned  for  the 
purpose  of  devoting  himself  exclusively  to  his  profession. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  he  had  again  become  actively  en 
gaged  in  politics.  The  paper  system  had  exploded  ;  the  banks 
throughout  the  Union  were  in  a  state  of  suspension;  credit 
was  destroyed ;  and  pecuniary  embarrassment  and  bankruptcy 
seemed  to  threaten  all  classes.  The  President  of  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  convened  an  extra  session  of  Congress, 
and  proposed  his  well-known  measure  for  "  divorcing"  the  gov 
ernment  from  all  banking  institutions,  called  the  Sub  Treasury, 
or  Independent  Treasury.  The  principles  of  this  measure  har 
monized  with  the  previous  opinions  of  Mr.  Douglas.  But  a 
few  months  before,  he  had  strenuously  advocated  the  same  prin 
ciples  in  the  Legislature  of  his  own  state,  and  had  there  strug 
gled,  as  we  have  seen,  not  only  against  a  vicious  banking  sys 
tem,  but  especially  against  the  union  of  bank  and  state.  His 
own  previous  convictions  were  strengthened  by  results,  and  he 
became  at  once  the  warm  advocate  of  the  great  u  divorce  meas 
ure."  The  history  of  that  period  is  familiar  to  our  readers. 
Panic  and  dismay  pervaded  the  Democratic  party  throughout 
the  Union.  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  had  been  elected  by  a  tri 
umphant  majority,  backed  by  large  majorities  in  both  houses 
of  Congress,  found  himself,  in  less  than  one  year,  in  a  hopeless 
minority.  The  entire  delegation  in  the  lower  house  of  Con 
gress  from  Illinois,  with  many  other  leading  men  of  the  party 
in  different  portions  of  the  Union,  abandoned  the  administration 
on  this  question,  and  allied  themselves  with  the  opposition. 
The  political  horizon  never  looked  darker,  especially  in  that 
part  of  Illinois  in  which  Mr.  Douglas  resided,  where  it  was 
supposed  that  the  Whigs  would  certainly  elect  their  candidate 
for  Congress  by  an  immense  majority.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  he  again  entered  the  political  arena.  In  November, 
1837,  he  was  nominated  by  a  convention  of  his  party  the  Dem 
ocratic  candidate  for  Congress  at  the  election  to  be  held  on  the 
first  Monday  in  August,  1838.  At  the  time  of  his  nomination 
he  was  ineligible,  not  being  of  the  age  of  twenty-five  years ; 
but  he  attained  that  age  before  the  day  of  election  arrived.  He 
accepted  the  nomination  with  no  confident  expectation  of  being 


STEPHEN    ARNOLD    DOUGLAS.  73 

elected,  but  with  the  hope  of  consolidating  and  strengthening 
the  party  in  future  elections.  The  canvass  was  conducted  in 
true  Western  style,  with  extraordinary  energy.  For  nearly  five 
months  the  candidates  were  constantly  riding  through  the  dis~ 
trict,  addressing  the  people  every  day  except  Sundays.  The 
district  was  the  largest  in  the  United  States,  owing  to  the  vast 
tide  of  emigration  setting  in ;  and  when  the  votes  were  counted, 
it  was  decided  that  out  of  more  than  thirty-six  thousand  cast, 
Mr.  Stuart,  the  Whig  candidate,  was  elected  over  Mr.  Doug 
las  by  five  votes.  In  explanation,  however,  of  this  result,  it  is 
proper  to  state,  that  some  of  the  votes  cast  for  Mr.  Douglas  were 
rejected  by  the  board  of  canvassers,  in  consequence  of  an  error 
in  the  spelling  of  his  name.  Had  these  votes  been  counted  for 
him,  or  had  all  the  misspelling  on  both  sides  been  rejected, 
Mr.  Douglas  believes  that  he  would  have  had  a  majority.  His 
friends  were  anxious  that  he  should  have  contested  the  elec 
tion,  but  this  he  declined  to  do  on  the  ground  that  he  was  un 
willing  to  trouble  Congress  with  a  question  so  tedious  and  vex 
atious,  especially  when  he  could  not  reasonably  have  hoped  for 
a  decision  during  the  term  for  which  he  claimed  to  have  been 
elected,  because  there  were  already  two  cases  of  contested  elec 
tions  pending  before  the  House,  the  celebrated  New  Jersey  case, 
and  that  of  Ingersoll  and  Nay  lor,  of  Philadelphia.  Although 
deprived  of  his  seat  in  Congress,  he  made  a  great  deal  of  char 
acter  and  popularity  out  of  the  canvass.  Such  a  defeat  was 
considered  by  his  friends  as  a  great  triumph,  especially  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  same  district  at  the  next  election  gave  Gen 
eral  Harrison  a  majority  of  more  than  three  thousand  votes 
over  Mr.  Van  Buren. 

The  election  being  over,  Mr.  Douglas  again  returned  to  his 
profession,  to  which  he  bent  all  his  energies  until  the  spring  of 
1840,  when  he  laid  aside  all  other  business,  and  devoted  his 
time  exclusively,  from  the  1st  of  April  until  the  1st  of  Novem 
ber,  to  the  presidential  campaign.  He  had  long  since  resigned 
the  office  he  held  under  the  government,  was  not  a  candidate 
for  any  office  himself,  and  had  no  other  interest  in  the  result 
of  the  election  than  that  which  was  common  to  any  other  citi 
zen  of  the  republic.  For  seven  months  he  traversed  the  state, 
attending  political  meetings,  and  addressing  the  people,  upon  an 
average,  once  a  day  during  the  entire  period.  These  efforts  se- 


74  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

riously  impaired  his  health ;  but  he  could  not  be  prevailed  upon 
to  abandon  the  field  until  the  day  of  election.  It  is  known  that 
the  state,  which  had  been  confidently  relied  upon  for  Harrison 
and  Tyler,  gave  Van  Buren  and  Johnson  a  handsome  majority, 
and  maintained  its  Democratic  ascendency  in  the  state  govern 
ment. 

When  the  Legislature  met  in  December  of  that  year,  Mr. 
Douglas  was  appointed  by  the  governor,  and  confirmed  by  the 
Senate,  Secretary  of  State,  and  immediately  entered  on  the 
duties  of  the  office. 

In  February,  1841,  he  was  elected  by  a  joint  vote  of  the  two 
houses  of  the  Legislature  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  with 
out  desiring  the  office  or  having  been  a  candidate  for  it.  He 
accepted  it  with  great  reluctance.  He  was  not  yet  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age;  was  holding  an  office,  the  emoluments 
of  which  were  equal  to  that  of  the  judgeship,  and  whose  du 
ties  did  not  materially  interfere  with  his  professional  practice, 
besides  giving  him  the  custody  and  use  of  the  State  Library. 
He  submitted,  however,  to  the  pecuniary  sacrifice,  and  enter 
ed  upon  the  discharge  of  his  judicial  duties,  taking  leave,  as 
he  then  supposed  forever,  of  political  life.  His  judicial  duties 
were  very  arduous,  confining  him  to  the  court-room  at  least  ten 
months  out  of  twelve,  and  of  course  occupying  his  entire  time 
in  the  trial  of  causes,  the  examination  of  authorities,  and  the 
preparation  of  opinions.  The  reports  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Illinois  will  attest  with  what  fidelity  and  ability  he  discharged 
these  arduous  and  responsible  duties. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1843,  his  constitution  became 
so  much  impaired  by  his  excessive  labors,  that  he  became  ap 
prehensive  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  abandon  the  idea  of 
a  judicial  life,  to  which  he  had  become  much  attached,  and  en 
gage  in  some  more  active  employment  that  would  give  him 
exercise  in  the  open  air.  His  physicians  advised  him  to  this 
course,  and  about  the  same  time  his  friends  tendered  him  a 
nomination  for  Congress,  and  actually  nominated  him  in  sev 
eral  county  meetings.  But  he  promptly  declined  the  nomina 
tion,  and  determined  on  a  trip  into  the  Indian  country  for  the 
benefit  of  his  health.  Just  as  the  time  for  his  departure  was 
about  to  arrive,  and  while  he  was  absent  at  his  court,  the  dis 
trict  convention  assembled,  and  nominated  him  as  the  Demo- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  75 

cratic  candidate  for  Congress,  in  opposition  to  his  known  wish 
es,  and  appointed  a  committee  to  wait  upon  him  and  insist 
upon  his  acceptance.  The  reasons  assigned  for  this  step  were 
such  as  he  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  disregard.  They  were,  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  political  complexion  of  the  district,  he 
was  the  only  Democrat  in  it  who  could  be  elected,  and  that  his 
refusal  would  be  equivalent  to  the  voluntary  surrender  of  the 
district  into  the  hands  of  the  Whigs.  But,  as  the  result  of  the 
contest  was  deemed  exceedingly  doubtful,  he  was  urged  not  to 
resign  his  seat  on  the  bench,  so  that  he  might  have  that  to  fall 
back  upon  in  case  of  defeat.  He  peremptorily  refused  to  hold 
that  seat,  and,  at  the  same  time,  canvass  before  the  people  for 
a  political  office.  Unwilling  to  let  the  election  "go  by  default, 
and  to  disoblige  those  friends  who  had  sustained  him  on  so  many 
occasions,  he  resigned  his  judicial  station,  to  which  he  had  been 
elected  for  life,  and  took  the  doubtful  chances  of  an  election  to 
Congress.  The  opposing  candidate,  Mr.  Browning,  was  one  of 
the  most  eminent  lawyers  and  eloquent  speakers  in  the  state. 
The  canvass  was  conducted  with  great  courtesy,  but  with  un 
usual  spirit  and  energy.  The  two  candidates  traveled  togeth 
er,  and  addressed  the  people  each  day  for  forty  successive  days 
(Sundays  excepted,  of  course) ;  and  on  election  day,  both  found 
themselves  prostrate  with  the  bilious  fever,  from  which  neither 
recovered  for  several  months. 

Mr.  Douglas  was  elected  by  something  over  four  hundred 
majority,  and  took  his  seat  in  December  of  the  same  year.  He 
was  re-elected  from  the  same  district  the  next  year  (the  law 
having  been  changed  so  as  to  elect  one  year  in  advance)  by  a 
majority  of  about  nineteen  hundred  votes  ;  and  in  August, 
1846,  he  was  again  elected,  when  absent  from  the  state,  by 
about  two  thousand  nine  hundred  majority.  He  never  took 
his  seat,  however,  under  the  last  election,  having  in  the  mean 
time  been  elected,  as  we  have  stated,  to  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  for  six  years  from  the  4th  of  March,  1847.  He  was  mar 
ried  in  April,  1847,  to  Martha  Denney  Martin,  only  daughter 
of  Col.  Robert  Martin,  of  Rockingham  county,  North  Carolina. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  exposition  of  his  career  in  the  na 
tional  councils,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  notice  his  connection 
with  two  or  three  cases  arising  in  the  course  of  his  professional 
and  judicial  services. 


76  His  TORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

In  1838—9,  the  question  arose  in  the  courts  of  Illinois  as  to 
the  right  of  a  state  to  confer  the  elective  franchise  upon  alien 
inhabitants,  who  had  not  been  naturalized  in  conformity  with 
the  laws  of  the  United  States.  The  question  was  a  novel  one, 
being  the  first  case  of  the  kind  ever  brought  before  the  judiciary 
of  this  country. 

A  person  of  this  class  had  been  permitted  to  vote  for  Mr. 
Douglas  for  Congress  in  1838,  with  the  knowledge,  on  the  part 
of  the  judges  of  election,  that  he  was  an  unnaturalized  alien ; 
and  the  judges  were  indicted  and  convicted  in  the  Circuit  Court 
for  malfeasance  in  office.  Mr.  Douglas,  who  was  an  utter 
stranger  to  the  judges  and  the  voter,  took  the  case  to  the  Su 
preme  Court,  Tor  the  purpose  of  making  the  point  and  testing 
the  question.  It  is  understood  that  the  preconceived  opinions 
of  the  bar  and  the  bench  generally  were  against  the  right  of 
the  voter.  The  case  was  argued  elaborately  on  both  sides,  as 
appears  in  the  report.  Mr.  Douglas  maintained  that  although 
Congress  possessed  the  exclusive  right  to  prescribe  uniform 
rules  of  naturalization,  yet  that  naturalization  had  no  necessary 
connection  with  the  elective  franchise,  neither  conferring  nor 
withholding  it ;  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  left 
the  regulation  of  it  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  respective 
states,  each  for  itself ;  that  each  state  had  the  right  to  prescribe 
such  qualifications  of  voters  as  it  pleased  for  the  most  numer 
ous  branch  of  its  Legislature,  and  that  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  adopted  the  qualifications  thus  prescribed  by  the 
state  as  the  qualifications  of  voters  for  members  of  Congress  in 
such  state.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois  decided  the  question 
in  favor  of  the  right  of  the  voter,  as  contended  for  by  Mr.  Doug 
las.  It  will  be  perceived,  that  if  this  doctrine  is  correct,  as  to 
which  we  express  no  opinion,  Native  Americanism  in  the  halls 
of  Congress  could  no  longer  have  an  existence.  In  connection 
with  that  political  sect,  we  have  again  referred  to  Mr.  Doug 
las's  opinions  on  this  subject,  as  expressed  in  the  House. 

Another  national  question  upon  which  it  became  his  duty  to 
express  his  opinion  from  the  bench,  was  the  memorable  Bank 
rupt  Law  of  1841.  He  held  that  that  law  was  not  warranted 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ;  that  it  was  an  insol 
vent  law  instead  of  a  bankrupt  law  within  the  meaning  of  that 
instrument.  We  have  cited  these  cases  from  among  many 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  77 

with  which  he  was  connected,  professionally  or  judicially,  be 
cause  his  opinions  seemed  to  us  to  be  peculiar. 

There  is,  however,  one  other  case,  of  a  character  so  extraor 
dinary,  that  we  are  sure  our  readers  will  justify  us  for  the  space 
we  devote  to  a  record  of  the  facts.  It  is  known  as  the  case  of 
the  people  against  Berry  and  others,  and  was  one  of  the  first 
prosecutions  conducted  by  Mr.  Douglas  after  his  election  as 
state's  attorney. 

In  a  remote  corner  of  the  county  in  which  he  resided,  at  a 
place  called  Puncheon  Camp  Grove,  there  lived  two  families, 
one  by  the  name  of  Berry,  and  the  other  (we  think)  by  the 
name  of  Lucas.  The  Berry  family  consisted  of  an  old  man 
and  his  wife,  with  about  half  a  dozen  sons  and  sons-in-law,  all 
farmers,  members  of  the  Church,  and  considered  very  respect 
able  people.  There  was  a  religious  revival  going  on  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  a  protracted  religious  meeting  had  for  some 
time  been  assembled.  All  the  Berry  family  attended  it  except 
the  old  lady,  who,  being  sick,  was  left  at  home  under  the  care 
of  Lucas  and  his  wife,  an  aged  couple. 

When  the  family  returned  at  night  from  the  meeting,  the 
old  woman,  Mrs.  Berry,  invited  them  to  come  round  the  bed 
in  which  she  was  lying,  to  pray.  They  did  so,  at  the  same 
time  requiring  the  old  man,  Lucas,  to  kneel  down  and  join  them 
in  prayer,  holding  up  to  him,  as  the  consequence  of  his  refusal, 
the  everlasting  perdition  of  his  soul.  Declining  to  comply  with 
their  demands,  they  all  seized  him  and  forced  him  to  his  knees, 
telling  him  that  they  would  crucify  him.  They  immediately 
tied  a  rope  to  the  rafters  of  the  log  house,  and  told  him  that, 
after  they  had  crucified  him,  his  soul  must  ascend  that  rope 
to  heaven.  The  whole  family — the  father,  mother,  sons  and 
daughters,  and  sons  and  daughters-in-law — participated  in  the 
ceremonies.  While  some  held  the  old  man  down,  others  cut  his 
head,  arms;  and  legs,  and  stabbed  him  in  the  body  with  knives. 
The  sick  old  woman,  Mrs.  Berry,  who  seemed  to  take  com 
mand  in  the  operations,  got  out  of  bed,  filled  her  mouth  with 
whisky  (others  following  her  example),  spit  into  the  fire,  and, 
as  the  blue  flame  would  ascend,  told  Lucas  to  see  the  fires  of 
hell  and  damnation  burning  to  receive  him.  This  process  of 
torture  continued  until  he  became  exhausted  from  his  wounds 
and  the  loss  of  blood,  when  he  was  supposed  to  be  dead.  In 


78  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

the  mean  time,  his  wife  had  made  her  escape,  and  spread  the 
alarm  through  the  neighborhood.  When,  a  little  before  day 
light  in  the  morning,  the  neighbors  assembled  round  the  house, 
they  found  the  family  singing  psalms  over  the  old  man's  body, 
which  they  had  laid  out  as  though  it  were  dead.  They  soon 
discovered,  however,  that  life  was  not  quite  extinct.  Medical 
aid  was  sent  for ;  the  proper  remedies  were  applied ;  and  Lu 
cas,  although  his  body  and  limbs  were  horribly  hacked  and  mu 
tilated,  was  eventually  restored. 

As  death  did  not  ensue,  the  only  crime  for  which  the  par 
ties  could  be  indicted  was  that  of  assault  with  intent  to  com 
mit  murder.  The  affair  having  produced  a  deep  sensation 
throughout  that  section  of  country,  the  trial  naturally  excited 
the  most  intense  interest,  and  a  vast  concourse  of  people  as 
sembled  to  hear  it.  The  whole  family,  males  and  females, 
were  put  upon  their  trial  in  one  indictment,  and  they  secured 
the  services  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  state. 

During  the  trial,  some  controversy,  and  perhaps  ill  blood, 
arose  between  Mr.  Douglas  and  the  leading  counsel  for  the  de 
fense.  The  latter,  a  distinguished  lawyer,  in  opening  his  ar 
gument  to  the  jury,  referred  to  the  fact  that  he  had  been  sent 
for  from  a  distant  part  of  the  state  to  attend  this  trial,  and 
warned  them  against  allowing  any  prejudice  to  exist  in  their 
minds  against  him  on  that  account.  In  illustration  of  his 
meaning,  he  referred  to  a  case  which  had  come  under  his  ob 
servation  in  Kentucky.  A  man  had  been  indicted  for  a  crime 
of  which  he  was  innocent ;  but,  to  render  his  defense  sure  and 
his  innocence  manifest,  he  had  sent  to  a  distant  part  of  the 
state  for  Henry  Clay  and  John  Rowan — men  whose  name  and 
renown  were  great  in  the  land — to  defend  him ;  but,  although 
the  prosecution  failed  to  make  out  the  case,  the  jury  found  the 
prisoner  guilty,  on  the  ground  that,  if  he  had  been  innocent,  he 
would  never  have  gone  to  the  trouble  and  expense  of  sending 
so  great  a  distance  for  such  distinguished  counsel.  He  added, 
that  he  hoped  the  jury  would  not  convict  his  client  from  any 
such  consideration. 

The  main  point  in  the  defense  of  the  Berry  family  was  in 
sanity — a  monomania  on  the  subject  of  religion.  After  ex 
hausting  all  the  authorities  to  be  found  in  the  books,  the  coun 
sel  for  the  defense  proceeded  to  cite  several  cases,  not  reported, 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  79 

to  show  that  a  jury  would  never  find  a  man  guilty  of  a  crime 
where  no  motive  for  its  commission  could  be  found.  Among 
many  others,  he  cited  one  to  this  effect : 

A  man  near  Danville,  in  Kentucky,  while  riding  along  the 
road,  called  at  a  neighbor's  house  and  asked  for  a  coal  of  fire  to 
light  his  pipe,  and,  when  it  was  furnished  him,  and  the  pipe 
was  lighted,  he  drew  a  pistol  and  shot  the  man  dead.  "  And, 
gentlemen  of  the  jury,"  said  the  counsel,  "that  man  wa^s  nei 
ther  hanged  nor  put  in  the  penitentiary." 

Mr.  Douglas  was  irritated  by  this  course  of  argument.  He 
thought  the  counsel  was  presuming  upon  his  youth  and  inex 
perience  ;  and  he  felt  disposed  to  convince  him  that,  in  relying 
upon  such  considerations  to  aid  him  in  the  defense,  he  was  in 
error. 

He  therefore  commenced  his  reply  by  repeating,  verbatim, 
the  allusion  to  Henry  Clay  and  John  Rowan — men  whose 
name  and  renown  were  great  in  the  land — and  made  appropri 
ate  comments  upon  the  modesty  which  could  draw  such  com 
parisons.  He  reviewed,  and  answered  seriously,  all  the  cases 
which  had  been  cited  from  the  books,  and  deduced  from  them 
what  he  conceived  to  be  the  principles  which  they  settled. 

When  he  came  to  the  other  authorities,  which  he  character 
ized  as  having  been  drawn  from  comic  almanacs  and  from  old 
women  in  the  chimney  corner,  he  dealt  with  them  in  a  differ 
ent  manner.  He  said  he  happened  to  know  something  of  the 
case  near  Danville,  Kentucky,  and  he  presumed  that  was  a 
fair  specimen  of  the  rest. 

It  so  happened  that  one  of  the  officers  of  the  court  in  Illinois, 
then  in  attendance,  was  present  at  the  trial  in  Kentucky,  and 
was  well  acquainted  with  all  the  facts  of  the  case.  "  He  tells 
me,"  said  Mr.  Douglas,  "  that  the  crime  was  committed  in  the 
manner  stated,  and  that  the  accused  party  i  was  neither  hang 
ed  nor  sent  to  the  penitentiary,'  because,  after  he  had  been 
tried  and  convicted,  he  broke  jail  and  ran  away  /" 

Mr.  Douglas  then  argued  the  case  upon  its  merits.  His 
argument  seems  to  have  been  of  this  nature  : 

He  admitted  that  a  man  might  be  insane  on  one  subject,  and 
perfectly  sane  and  rational  on  all  others,  and  that,  while  in  that 
condition,  he  might  be  able  to  attend  to  all  his  usual  business 
without  any  symptoms  of  insanity  being  manifested,  until 


80  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

some  allusion  or  reference  should  be  made  to  the  particular 
topic  or  subject  which  had  produced  the  mental  disease.  But 
he  contended  that  in  all  such  cases  of  partial  insanity  a  connec 
tion  might  be  traced  between  the  cause  and  the  effect.  For 
example :  insanity  produced  by  love  would  show  itself  when 
that  subject  was  mentioned,  and  in  a  manner  which  .would  in 
dicate  that  that  passion  was  the  cause ;  and,  in  like  manner, 
insanity  produced  by  religious  excitement  would  have  shown 
itself,  not  in  cruelties  and  acts  of  imposture,  such  as  torturing 
a  man,  and  using  ardent  spirits  as  evidences  of  the  flames  of 
the  infernal  regions,  but  by  excesses,  all  of  which  would  be  un 
der  the  influence  of  religious  principles  and  feelings. 

The  jury  found  the  prisoners  guilty,  and  sentenced  them  to  con 
finement  in  the  penitentiary.  The  court  set  aside  the  verdict 
and  ordered  a  new  trial,  on  the  ground  that  the  verdict  was  con 
trary  to  law  and  evidence.  The  presiding  judge  expressed  the 
opinion  that  it  was  a  case  of  insanity,  for  which  the  accused 
were  not  responsible,  and  that  the  verdict  must  have  been  in 
fluenced  more  by  the  controversy  between  the  counsel  than  by 
the  evidence.  Mr.  Douglas  resigned  the  office  of  state's  attor 
ney  before  the  second  trial  took  place,  and  was  succeeded  by  a 
gentleman  who  was  unacquainted  with  the  facts  of  the  case. 
The  accused  parties  were  acquitted,  on  the  plea  of  insanity 
produced  by  undue  religious  excitement. 

Mr.  Douglas  may  be  placed  at  the  head  of  those  members 
who,  at  the  commencement  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress,  were 
known  by  the  familiar  title  of  the  "  fifty-four  forties."  As  a 
member  of  the  preceding  Congress,  he  had  taken  the  ultimate 
ground  in  respect  to  the  disputed  territory,  and  had  declared 
that  "  he  never  would,  now  or  hereafter,  yield  up  one  inch  of 
Oregon,  either  to  Great  Britain  or  any  other  government."  He 
had  advocated  the  policy  of  giving  notice  to  terminate  the  joint 
occupation ;  of  immediately  extending  our  settlements  up  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  of  establishing  a  territorial  government 
of  Oregon,  protected  by  a  sufficient  military  force  ;  and  of  put 
ting  the  country  in  a  condition  to  repel  any  aggression  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britain,  and  to  resent  any  invasion  of  our  rights. 
He  had  dwelt  on  those  public  considerations  which  meet  with 
so  passionate  and  instantaneous  a  response  in  the  American 
heart,  in  regard  to  the  "  grasping  tendencies"  of  British  power. 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  81 

He  spoke  of  the  alleged  intrigues  of  that  government  touching 
California,  and  Cuba,  and  Texas ;  as  to  the  latter  of  which,  the 
fog  has  been  so  wonderfully  cleared  away  by  General  Hous 
ton's  letter  of  July  18,  1847,  and  which  claims  a  place  in  an 
other  chapter.  He  had  pointed  the  attention  of  the  American 
people  to  the  "  net- work  of  possessions  and  fortifications"  which 
British  power  had  run  around  the  United  States ;  to  Canada, 
to  Nova  Scotia,  to  New  Brunswick,  and  to  those  possessions 
"  which  studded  the  Atlantic  round  Cape  Horn  to  the  Oregon." 
He  had  declared  that  the  cherished  object  of  British  policy  was 
to  check  the  growth  of  republican  institutions  on  this  conti 
nent,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  we  were  advancing  not  only 
in  political  power,  but  in  trade,  and  commerce,  and  national 
glory.  This  growth,  he  thought,  had  shaken  the  thrones  of 
Europe  to  their  foundations,  and  had  rendered  it  necessary  to 
the  self-preservation  of  their  designing  incumbents  that  our 
onward  march  should  be  arrested. 

"  It  therefore,"  he  said,  "  becomes  us  to  put  this  nation  in  a 
state  of  defense ;  and  when  we  are  told  that  this  will  lead  to 
war,  all  I  have  to  say  is  this :  violate  no  treaty  stipulations, 
nor  any  principle  of  the  law  of  nations  ;  preserve  the  honor  and 
integrity  of  this  country ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  assert  our 
right  to  the  last  inch,  and  then,  if  war  comes,  let  it  come. 
We  may  regret  the  necessity  which  produced  it ;  but  when 
it  does  come,  I  would  administer  to  our  citizens  Hannibal's 
oath  of  eternal  enmity,  and  not  terminate  it  until  the  question 
was  all  settled  forever.  I  would  blot  out  the  lines  on  the  map 
which  now  mark  our  national  boundaries  on  this  continent, 
and  make  the  area  of  liberty  as  broad  as  the  continent  itself. 
I  would  not  suffer  rival  petty  republics  to  grow  up  here,  engen 
dering  jealousy  of  each  other,  and  interfering  with  each  other's 
domestic  affairs,  and  continually  endangering  their  peace.  I 
do  not  wish  to  go  beyond  the  great  ocean — beyond  those  bound 
aries  which  the  God  of  Nature  has  marked  out ;  and  I  would 
limit  myself  to  that  natural  boundary  which  is  so  clearly  de 
fined." 

In  another  speech  he  says . 

"  Our  federal  system  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  whole  con 
tinent  ;  and  while  I  would  not  violate  the  laws  of  nations,  nor 
treaty  stipulations,  nor  in  any  manner  tarnish  the  national 

VOL.  I.— F 


82  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

honor,  I  would  exert  all  legal  and  honorable  means  to  drive 
Great  Britain  and  the  last  vestiges  of  royal  authority  from  the 
continent  of  North  America,  and  extend  the  limits  of  the  re 
public  from  ocean  to  ocean.  I  would  make  this  an  ocean-bound 
republic,  and  have  no  more  disputes  about  boundaries  or  red 
lines  upon  the  maps." 

How  absorbing  an  idea  in  some  portions  of  the  country  this 
"  ocean-bound  republic"  afterward  became,  the  reader  need 
scarcely  be  reminded. 

In  illustration  of  the  views  of  Mr.  Douglas  on  this  point,  we 
have  heard  him  say  that  if  he  were  to  consult  the  interests  and 
honor  of  the  republic  alone,  he  would  rather  see  three  new  mon 
archies  established  on  the  American  continent  than  one  repub 
lic.  His  reason  is  this  :  that  so  long  as  we  had  a  monarchy  for 
a  neighbor,  the  very  odium  which  is  attached  to  that  form  of 
government  would  unite  our  own  people  in  any  controversy  we 
might  have  with  it ;  but  that,  if  there  should  be  a  new  repub 
lic  on  the  continent,  like  that  of  Texas,  for  instance,  it  would 
necessarily  be  a  feeble  one  when  compared  with  ours;  and  our 
superiority  would  excite  its  envy,  and  therefore  its  hostility. 
The  consequence  would  be,  he  says,  that  a  feeble  republic 
would  always  be  used  as  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  power 
ful  European  monarchies,  through  which  to  assail  us  with  im 
punity  ;  for,  if  we  should  attempt  to  resent  the  aggression, 
the  very  fact  that  we  proposed  to  make  war  on  a  weak  repub 
lic  would  divide  our  own  people. 

The  Baltimore  Democratic  Convention,  whose  troubled  ele 
ments  had  given  birth  to  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Polk  for  the 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  laid  down  certain  car 
dinal  articles  of  the  Democratic  faith,  among  which  was  the 
"  reoccupation  of  Oregon"  and  the  "  reannexation  of  Texas." 
With  the  latter  of  these  we  have  at  present  no  concern. 

It  is  matter  of  record  that  controversies  have  arisen  in  quar 
ters  of  undoubted  respectability  as  to  the  extent  to  which  the 
action  of  the  Convention  had  committed  the  Democratic  party 
in  relation  to  the  Oregon  Question.  Mr.  Bayly,  of  Virginia, 
alluding  to  this  point  in  a  speech  delivered  on  the  27th  of  Jan 
uary,  1846,  says : 

"  I  utterly  deny  that  this  question  of  giving  notice  was  mado 
at  the  Baltimore  Convention,  or  any  where  else,  until  it  has  been 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  83 

attempted  this  winter,  a  measure  of  the  Democratic  party.  It 
was  raised  at  the  last  session  by  the  gentleman  from  Massa 
chusetts  (Mr.  Adams),  when  we  had  just  come  out  of  our  glo 
rious  party  struggle,  and  when  we  were  all  fresh  with  its  issues ; 
ay,  and  at  the  time  when  we  had  just  carried  through  the  Texas 
resolutions.  And,  at  that  time,  what  course  did  the  party  take  ? 
Why,  sir,  the  gentleman  who  led  us  then  on  that  question,  the 
present  Governor  of  Tennessee  (A.  V.  Brown),  absolutely  de 
nied  the  power  of  Congress  to  give  the  notice ;  and  a  proposition 
moved  by  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Adams), 
providing  for  giving  it,  was  voted  down  by  the  Republican 
party.  It  is  true,  a  similar  one  was  afterward  adopted,  but 
against  the  vote  of  the  great  mass  of  the  party ;  the  Western 
men,  particularly,  voting  almost  in  a  solid  column  against  it. 
It  was  adopted  against  eighty-two  votes  in  the  negative,  of 
whom  only  three  were  Whigs.  Sir,  it  was  not  regarded  then 
as  a  part  of  the  Democratic  creed,  and  I  do  not  understand  how 
it  has  become  so  since.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  such  of  us 
as  advocated  the  immediate  admission  of  Texas,  and  now  op 
pose  giving  this  notice,  are  accused  of  inconsistency  and  bad 
faith." 

Mr.  Woodward,  of  South  Carolina,  speaking  on  the  same 
point,  said,  "  that  the  Baltimore  resolution  upon  the  '  reoccu- 
pation'  of  Oregon  was  the  opinion  of  the  members  of  the  Con 
vention,  and  not  attempted  to  be  incorporated  into  the  Demo 
cratic  creed ;  that  the  measure  was  recommended  to  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  as  a  great  American  question  above  party ;  that, 
with  all  due  deference  and  respect,  he  had  considered  the  ad 
vice  of  that  Convention,  and  he  utterly  repudiated  the  idea  that 
they  possessed  any  power  to  impose  any  obligation  upon  him. 
He  denied  that  they  designed  to  do  it ;  and  he  would  sustain 
the  President  if  he  should  settle  this  question  upon  the  line  of 
forty-nine  degrees." 

Whatever  interpretation  the  framers  of  the  following  resolu 
tion,  or  those  who  voted  for  it,  designed  it  should  bear,  or  un 
der  whatsoever  circumstances  it  may  have  been  adopted,  we 
find,  on  reference  to  the  records,  that  it  was  duly  promulgated 
to  the  Democratic  party  as  part  and  parcel  of  the  authorized 
proceedings  of  the  Convention : 

"  Resolved,  That  our  title  to  the  whole  of  the  territory  of 


84  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

Oregon  is  clear  and  unquestionable ;  that  no  portion  of  the  same 
ought  to  be  ceded  to  England  or  any  other  power ;  and  that 
the  reoccupation  of  Oregon,  and  the  reannexation  of  Texas  at 
the  earliest  practicable  period,  are  great  American  measures, 
which  this  Convention  recommends  to  the  ardent  support  of 
the  Democracy  of  the  Union." 

It  is  well  known  that  the  efforts  of  the  American  and  British 
governments  had  failed  to  effect  an  adjustment  of  the  intricate 
and  perplexing  controversy  in  relation  to  our  northwestern 
boundary.  The  President,  in  his  inaugural  address,  had  re 
affirmed  the  doctrines  of  the  resolution  of  the  Baltimore  Con 
vention  in  regard  to  the  "  reannexation"  of  Texas,  and  had  also 
declared  his  intention  to  assert  our  claim  to  the  Oregon  Terri 
tory.  In  doing  this,  he  had  borrowed  the  phraseology  of  the  res 
olution  to  express  his  judgment  of  the  nature  of  our  title.  He 
says: 

"  Nor  will  it  become  in  a  less  degree  my  duty  to  assert  and 
maintain,  by  all  constitutional  means,  the  right  of  the  United 
States  to  that  portion  of  our  territory  which  lies  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  Our  title  to  the  country  of  the  Oregon  is 
i  clear  and  unquestionable,'  and  already  are  our  people  pre 
paring  to  perfect  that  title  by  occupying  it  with  their  wives  and 
children.  But  eighty  years  ago,  our  population  was  confined 
on  the  west  by  the  ridge  of  the  Alleghanies.  Within  that  pe 
riod — within  the  life-time,  I  might  say,  of  some  of  my  hearers — 
our  people,  increasing  to  many  millions,  have  filled  the  eastern 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  adventurously  ascended  the  Missouri 
to  its  head  springs,  and  are  already  engaged  in  establishing  the 
blessings  of  self-government  in  valleys,  of  which  the  rivers  flow 
to  the  Pacific.  The  world  beholds  the  peaceful  triumphs  of  the 
industry  of  our  emigrants.  To  us  belongs  the  duty  of  protect 
ing  them  adequately  wherever  they  may  be  upon  our  soil.  The 
jurisdiction  of  our  laws,  and  the  benefits  of  our  republican  in 
stitutions,  should  be  extended  over  them  in  the  distant  regions 
which  they  have  selected  for  their  homes.  The  increasing  fa 
cilities  of  intercourse  will  easily  bring  the  states,  of  which  the 
formation  in  that  part  of  our  territory  can  not  be  long  delayed, 
within  the  sphere  of  our  federative  Union.  In  the  mean  time, 
every  obligation  imposed  by  treaty  or  conventional  stipulations 
should  be  sacredly  respected." 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  85 

The  exact  position  of  the  controversy  at  the  time  Mr.  Polk 
entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  executive  office,  is  thus  stated 
in  his  first  annual  messages 

"  My  attention  was  early  directed  to  the  negotiation  which, 
on  the  4th  of  March  last,  I  found  pending  at  Washington  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  on  the  subject  of 
the  Oregon  Territory.  Three  several  attempts  had  been  previ 
ously  made  to  settle  the  question  in  dispute  between  the  two 
countries,  by  negotiation,  upon  the  principle  of  compromise ;  but 
each  had  proved  unsuccessful. 

u  These  negotiations  took  place  at  London  in  the  years  1818, 
1824,  and  1826  ;  the  two  first  under  the  administration  of  Mr. 
Monroe,  and  the  last  under  that  of  Mr.  Adams.  The  negotia 
tion  of  1818,  having  failed  to  accomplish  its  object,  resulted  in 
the  Convention  of  the  20th  of  October  of  that  year.  By  the 
third  article  of  that  convention,  it  was  '  agreed  that  any  coun 
try  that  may  be  claimed  by  either  party  on  the  northwest  coast 
of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains,  shall,  together 
with  its  harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of  all 
rivers  within  the  same,  be  free  and  open  for  the  term  of  ten 
years  from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the  present  convention, 
to  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects  of  the  two  powers,  it  being 
well  understood  that  this  agreement  is  not  to  be  construed  to 
the  prejudice  of  any  claim  which  either  of  the  two  high  con 
tracting  parties  may  have  to  any  part  of  said  country,  nor  shall 
it  be  taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any  other  power  or  state  to 
any  part  of  the  said  country,  the  only  object  of  the  high  con 
tracting  parties  in  that  respect  being  to  prevent  disputes  and 
differences  among  themselves.' 

"  The  negotiation  of  1824  was  productive  of  no  result,  and 
the  Convention  of  1818  was  left  unchanged.  The  negotiation 
of  1826,  having  also  failed  to  effect  an  adjustment  by  com 
promise,  resulted  in  the  Convention  of  August  the  6th,  1827, 
by  which  it  was  agreed  to  continue  in  force  for  an  indefinite 
period  the  provisions  of  the  third  article  of  the  Convention  of 
the  20th  of  October,  1818 ;  and  it  was  further  provided  that 
1  it  shall  be  competent,  however,  to  either  of  the  contracting 
parties,  in  case  either  should  think  fit,  at  any  time  after  the 
20th  of  October,  1828,  on  giving  due  notice  of  twelve  months 
to  the  other  contracting  party,  to  annul  and  abrogate  this  con- 


86  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

vention ;  and  it  shall,  in  such  case,  be  accordingly  entirely  an 
nulled  and  abrogated  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  term  of 
notice.'  In  these  attempts  to  adjust  the  controversy,  the  par 
allel  of  the  forty -ninth  degree  of  north  latitude  had  been  offered 
by  the  United  States  to  Great  Britain,  and,  in  those  of  1818  and 
1826,  with  a  further  concession  of  the  free  navigation  of  the 
Columbia  River  south  of  that  latitude.  The  parallel  of  the 
forty-ninth  degree,  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  its  intersec 
tion  with  the  northeasternmost  branch  of  the  Columbia,  and 
thence  down  the  channel  of  that  river  to  the  sea,  had  been 
offered  by  Great  Britain,  with  an  addition  of  a  small  detached 
territory  north  of  the  Columbia.  Each  of  these  propositions 
had  been  rejected  by  the  parties  respectively. 

"  In  October,  1843,  the  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  in  London  was  authorized 
to  make  a  similar  offer  to  those  made  in  1818  and  1826.  Thus 
stood  the  question,  when  the  negotiation  was  shortly  afterward 
transferred  to  Washington ;  and,  on  the  23d  of  August,  1844, 
was  formally  opened  under  the  direction  of  my  immediate  pre 
decessor.  Like  all  the  previous  negotiations,  it  was  based  upon 
principles  of  *  compromise  ;'  and  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  par 
ties  was  '  to  treat  of  the  respective  claims  of  the  two  countries 
to  the  Oregon  Territory,  with  the  view  to  establish  a  permanent 
boundary  between  them  westward  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.'  Accordingly,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1844, 
the  British  plenipotentiary  offered  to  divide  the  Oregon  Terri 
tory  by  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  from  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the  point  of  its  intersection  with  the  northeastern- 
most  branch  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  thence  down  that  river 
to  the  sea,  leaving  the  free  navigation  of  the  river  to  be  en 
joyed  in  common  by  both  parties,  the  country  south  of  this 
line  to  belong  to  the  United  States,  and  that  north  of  it  to 
Great  Britain.  At  the  same  time,  he  proposed,  in  addition,  to 
yield  to  the  United  States  a  detached  territory  north  of  the  Co 
lumbia,  extending  along  the  Pacific  and  the  Straits  of  Fuca, 
from  Bulfinch's  Harbor  inclusive  to  Hood's  Canal,  and  to  make 
free  to  the  United  States  any  port  or  ports  south  of  latitude 
forty-nine  degrees  which  they  might  desire,  either  on  the  main 
land,  or  on  Quadra  and  Vancouver's  Island.  With  the  excep 
tion  of  the  free  ports,  this  was  the  same  offer  which  had  been 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  87 

made  by  the  British,  and  rejected  by  the  American  government 
in  the  negotiation  of  1826.  This  proposition  was  properly  re 
jected  by  the  American  plenipotentiary  on  the  day  it  was  sub 
mitted.  This  was  the  only  proposition  of  compromise  offered 
by  the  British  plenipotentiary.  The  proposition  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain  having  been  rejected,  the  British  plenipotentiary 
requested  that  a  proposal  should  be  made  by  the  United  States 
for  '  an  equitable  adjustment  of  the  question.' 

"  When  I  came  into  office,  I  found  this  to  be  the  state  of  the 
negotiation.  Though  entertaining  the  settled  conviction  that 
the  British  pretensions  of  title  could  not  be  maintained  to  any 
portion  of  the  Oregon  Territory  upon  any  principle  of  public  law 
recognized  by  nations,  yet,  in  deference  to  what  had  been  done 
by  my  predecessors,  and  especially  in  consideration  that  propo 
sitions  of  compromise  had  been  thrice  made  by  two  preceding 
administrations,  to  adjust  the  question  on  the  parallel  of  forty- 
nine  degrees,  and  in  two  of  them  yielding  to  Great  Britain  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Columbia,  and  that  the  pending  negotia 
tion  had  been  commenced  on  the  basis  of  compromise,  I  deemed 
it  to  be  my  duty  not  abruptly  to  break  it  off.  In  consideration, 
too,  that  under  the  conventions  of  1818  and  1827,  the  citizens 
and  subjects  of  the  two  powers  held  a  joint  occupancy  of  the 
country,  I  was  induced  to  make  another  effort  to  settle  this 
long-pending  controversy  in  the  spirit  of  moderation  which  had 
given  birth  to  the  renewed  discussion.  A  proposition  was  ac 
cordingly  made,  which  was  rejected  by  the  British  plenipoten 
tiary,  who,  without  submitting  any  other  proposition,  suffered 
the  negotiation  on  his  part  to  drop,  expressing  his  trust  that 
the  United  States  would  offer  what  he  saw  fit  to  call  *  some 
further  proposal  for  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  Question,  more 
consistent  with  fairness  and  equity,  and  with  the  reasonable 
expectations  of  the  British  government.'  The  proposition  thus 
offered  and  rejected  repeated  the  offer  of  the  parallel  of  forty- 
nine  degrees  of  north  latitude,  which  had  been  made  by  two 
preceding  administrations,  but  without  proposing  to  surrender 
to  Great  Britain,  as  they  had  done,  the  free  navigation  of  the  Co 
lumbia  River.  The  right  of  any  foreign  power  to  the  free  nav 
igation  of  any  of  the  rivers  through  the  heart  of  our  country 
was  one  which  I  was  unwilling  to  concede.  It  also  embraced  a 
provision  to  make  free  to  Great  Britain  any  port  or  ports  on  the 


88  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

Cape  of  Quadra  and  Vancouver's  Island,  south  of  this  parallel. 
Had  this  been  a  new  question,  coming  under  discussion  for  the 
first  time,  this  proposition  would  not  have  been  made.  The  ex 
traordinary  and  wholly  inadmissible  demands  of  the  British  gov 
ernment,  and  the  rejection  of  the  proposition  made  in  deference 
alone  to  what  had  been  done  by  my  predecessors,  and  the  im 
plied  obligation  which  their  acts  seemed  to  impose,  afford  sat 
isfactory  evidence  that  no  compromise  which  the  United  States 
ought  to  accept  can  be  effected.  With  this  conviction,  the 
proposition  of  compromise  which  had  been  made  and  rejected, 
was,  by  my  direction,  subsequently  withdrawn,  and  our  title  to 
the  whole  Oregon  Territory  asserted,  and,  as  is  believed,  main 
tained  by  irrefragable  facts  and  arguments." 

Such,  in  his  own  language,  were  the  views  of  the  President  at 
the  commencement  of  the  first  session  of  the  twenty-ninth  Con 
gress.  To  give  effect  to  these  views,  he  recommended  that  no 
tice  be  given  to  Great  Britain  that  the  convention  pending  for  the 
joint  occupation  of  the  Oregon  Territory  should  terminate,  ac 
cording  to  the  stipulations  of  the  convention  itself ;  and  that,  in 
the  mean  time,  Congress  should  determine  what  legislation  could 
be  adopted  without  a  violation  of  the  faith  of  treaties.  He  rec 
ommended,  also,  the  adoption  of  certain  specific  measures,  as 
the  best,  in  his  judgment,  for  securing  our  rights  in  Oregon,  and 
suggested  others  for  the  consideration  of  Congress.  The  former 
were,  the  extension  of  our  jurisdiction,  and  of  the  protection  of 
our  laws,  civil  and  criminal,  over  our  citizens  in  Oregon,  to  the 
full  extent  to  which  the  British  Parliament  had  proceeded  in 
regard  to  British  subjects  in  that  territory ;  the  extension  of 
our  laws  regulating  trade  and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  tribes 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  such  tribes  as  dwelt  beyond 
them;  the  establishment  of  an  Indian  agency,  and  such  sub- 
agencies  as  might  be  deemed  necessary,  beyond  the  Rocky 
Mountains ;  the  erection  of  a  suitable  number  of  stockades  and 
block-house  forts  along  the  usual  route  between  our  frontier 
settlements  on  the  Missouri  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  for  the 
protection  of  emigrants  while  on  their  way  to  Oregon,  against 
the  attacks  of  Indian  tribes ;  the  raising  of  an  adequate  force 
of  mounted  riflemen  to  guard  and  protect  them  on  their  jour 
ney;  and  the  establishment  of  an  over-land  mail  line  to  the 
Pacific.  The  President  then  adds : 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  89 

"At  the  end  of  the  year's  notice,  should  Congress  think  it 
proper  to  make  provision  for  giving  that  notice,  we  shall  have 
reached  a  period  when  the  national  rights  in  Oregon  must  either 
be  abandoned  or  firmly  maintained.  That  they  can  not  be 
abandoned  without  a  sacrifice  of  both  national  honor  and  inter 
est,  is  too  clear  to  admit  of  doubt." 

The  notice  recommended  by  the  President  was  regarded  on 
all  sides  as  the  main  step  in  the  controversy.  It  was  not,  how 
ever,  the  only  important  one.  As  early  as  the  19th  day  of  De 
cember,  Mr.  Douglas,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Territo 
ries,  reported  a  bill  under  the  unassuming  title  of  "  a  Bill  to 
Protect  the  Rights  of  American  Settlers  in  the  Territory  of  Ore 
gon,  until  the  Termination  of  the  joint  Occupancy  of  the  same." 
This  bill,  simple  enough  at  first  sight,  but,  on  close  inspection, 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  and  covert,  we  undertake  to  say, 
in  its  provisions,  ever  presented  to  Congress,  received  a  highly 
eulogistic  endorsement  from  the  official  organ.  Its  considera 
tion  was  postponed  to  a  future  day  somewhat  distant;  and, 
when  it  was  finally  brought  up,  its  features  were  essentially  met 
amorphosed.  We  trust  its  history  may  yet  be  written. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1846,  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Af 
fairs,  to  whom  had  been  referred  this  particular  portion  of  the 
message,  reported,  through  their  chairman,  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll, 
the  following  joint  resolution : 

"Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled^  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  forthwith  cause  notice  to  be 
given  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  convention 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  concerning  the 
Territory  of  Oregon,  of  the  6th  of  August,  1827,  signed  at  Lon 
don,  shall  be  annulled  and  abrogated  twelve  months  after  the 
expiration  of  the  said  term  of  notice,  conformably  to  the  second 
article  of  the  said  convention  of  the  6th  of  August,  1827." 

On  the  7th  of  January,  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  moved  so  to  amend 
the  doubtful  phraseology  of  this  resolution  as  to  strike  out 
all  after  the  words  "  shall  be  annulled  and  abrogated,"  and  in 
sert,  in  lieu  thereof,  the  words  "  at  the  expiration  of  the  term 
of  twelve  months  from  and  after  said  notice  shall  be  given,  con 
formably  to  the  second  article  of  the  said  convention  of  the  6th 
of  August,  1827." 


90  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

On  the  same  day,  a  minority  of  the  committee,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Garrett  Davis,  Truman  Smith,  and  Caleb  B.  Smith, 
made  a  counter  report,  which  concluded  with  a  resolution  in  the 
following  words : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  question  whether  a  notice  to  terminate 
the  convention  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  Great 
Britain,  of  October,  1818,  and  continued  in  force  by  the  con 
vention  of  August,  1827,  ought  to  be  given,  is  not  a  matter  for 
the  decision  of  Congress^  and  upon  it  this  House,  at  the  present, 
refrains  from  the  expression  of  any  opinion." 

The  debate,  which  attracted  intense,  public  interest,  com 
menced  early  in  the  session,  on  an  indirect  issue,  but  was  sub 
sequently  transferred  to  the  main  proposition,  and  continued  for 
some  weeks.  The  question  of  title,  in  all  its  varied  aspects, 
was  elaborately  argued,  some  claiming  from  one  source,  some 
from  another.  The  policy  of  the  notice — its  probable  results  of 
peace  or  war — the  propriety  of  negotiation  and  compromise  on 
the  one  hand,  the  invitations  to  stern  defiance  on  the  other — 
the  memories  of  ancient  wrongs,  and  the  duty  of  avenging  them 
—the  necessity  of  preparation  for  defense — the  future  hopes  and 
destinies  of  the  nation — all  these  things,  and  many  others  of 
minor  import,  were  embraced  in  the  discussion. 

Mr.  Douglas  took  strong  ground  in  favor  of  the  notice,  as 
he  had  done  at  the  last  session  of  the  previous  Congress.  He 
could  not,  of  course,  know  whether  the  giving  this  notice  and 
the  annulment  of  the  treaty  might  or  might  not  lead  to  war ; 
but  one  thing,  he  declared,  he  did  know,  that  it  afforded  no 
just  cause  of  war.  It  was  important  to  inquire  whether  the 
act  would  give  good  ground  of  offense — just  cause  of  war.  If 
it  would,  Congress  ought  to  pause  and  reflect.  If  it  would  not, 
it  was  no  argument  to  say  that  Great  Britain  would  choose 
to  make  it  a  cause  of  war.  To  give  the  notice  was  merely  to 
exercise  a  peaceful  right  secured  by  the  treaty  itself.  No  right, 
no  treaty,  no  law  would  be  violated  by  it.  When  the  notice 
should  have  been  given,  and  the  convention  terminated,  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain  would  occupy  the  same  rela 
tive  position  to  each  other  that  they  occupied  before  the  con 
vention  of  1818  was  entered  into,  and  that  was  a  position  of 
profound  peace,  What,  then,  would  be  the  rights  of  the  United 
States  ?  The  United  States  would  be  entitled  to  the  actual 


STEPHEN    ARNOLD    DOUGLAS.  91 

exclusive  possession  of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  River,  and 
the  right  to  hold  that  possession  while  treating  of  the  title,  that 
right  having  been  secured  ^by  the  first  article  of  the  Treaty  of 
Ghent.  It  would  be  found,  on  reference  to  the  history  of  this 
question,  that,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  the  valley 
of  the  Columbia  River  was  in  possession  of  citizens  of  the  Unit 
ed  States ;  that,  during  that  war,  it  was  captured  by  Great 
Britain ;  and  that,  by  the  treaty  of  peace,  it  was  provided  that 
all  countries  captured  by  Great  Britain  (excepting  only  certain 
islands  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy)  should  be  restored  to  us.  As 
soon  as  that  treaty  was  ratified  and  published,  the  American 
government,  in  pursuance  of  its  provisions,  had  demanded  of 
Great  Britain  the  restoration  of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia 
River.  Great  Britain  objected,  and  set  up  a  claim  to  that 
country  as  a  part  of  the  British  empire.  But,  notwithstanding 
all  her  objections,  when  Mr.  Rush  replied  to  them  that  we  were 
entitled  to  the  full  possession  (or  repossession,  to  use  his  own 
language),  she  admitted  that  right,  and  acknowledged  that,  un 
der  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  the  United  States  were  entitled  to 
the  actual,  full  repossession  of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia,  and 
that  we  had  a  right  to  remain  in  possession  while  negotiating 
as  to  the  title.  Not  only  did  Great  Britain  make  this  acknowl 
edgment,  but  she  sent  her  fleet  armed  into  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
took  on  board  the  United  States  agent,  and  then  actually  sur 
rendered  up  the  country  to  the  United  States.  Hence,  Mr. 
Douglas  contended,  if  the  convention  of  joint  occupation  was 
terminated,  the  right  of  the  United  States  to  exclusive  posses 
sion  under  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  was  revived,  and  Great  Brit 
ain  could  not,  dare  not  resist  the  restitution  of  that  valley. 
This  was  no  cause  of  war — no  war  movement.  When  in  pos 
session,  and  not  till  then,  we  would  be  ready  to  treat  upon  the 
title.  If  the  negotiations  were  carried  on,  and  the  treaty  of 
joint  occupation  was  left  in  force,  Great  Britain  would  be  the 
party  in  possession.  If  negotiations  should  commence,  and 
should  be  terminated  because  no  ground  could  be  found  on 
which  the  parties  could  agree,  was  it  a  matter  of  no  consequence 
whether  we  were  in  peaceable  possession  by  surrender,  or 
whether  Great  Britain  should  be  in  possession,  and  we  should 
have  to  turn  her  out  ?  In  answer  to  the  argument  that  Great 
Britain  never  would  acknowledge  the  exclusive  right  of  the 


92  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

United  States  to  the  possession  of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia 
before  the  question  of  title  was  settled,  he  replied  that  Great 
Britain  had  acknowledged  that  right,  not  only  in  words,  but 
by  a  solemn  act,  which  must  stand  prominent  in  the  history  of 
that  government  so  long  as  that  history  should  exist.  She  had 
estopped  herself  .from  denying  our  right  to  the  possession.  If 
she  did  refuse  to  make  that  restoration  after  the  notice  should 
have  expired,  she  would  have  to  violate  her  solemn  treaty  stip 
ulations  ;  she  would  become  the  aggressor — would  violate  her 
plighted  faith  in  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world,  an  act  of  per 
fidy  and  bad  faith  of  which  she  dared  not  take  the  responsibili 
ty.  The  notice,  therefore,  he  regarded  as  the  only  peaceful 
means  by  which  we  could  obtain  possession  of  the  valley  of  the 
Columbia ;  and  the  man  who  refused  to  go  for  it  must  either 
avow  himself  opposed  to  the  possession  of  that  valley,  or  he 
must  avow  himself  in  favor  of  war  as  a  substitute  for  this 
peaceful  measure. 

He  characterized  the  policy  of  those  who  would  continue  the 
treaty  of  joint  occupation,  in  order  that  we  might  finally  get 
possession  of  the  territory,  as  "  stealing  possession"  of  it  in  vio 
lation  of  that  treaty.  Was  that,  he  asked,  a  peaceful  remedy  ? 
Would  not  the  attempt  to  carry  out  that  policy  lead  to  war  ? 
It  would  not  only  do  so,  but  it  would  put  us  in  the  wrong.  It 
would  convict  our  government  of  an  act  of  duplicity  and  per 
fidy.  It  would  array  the  whole  civilized  world  against  us,  and 
would  render  us  amenable  to  the  charge  of  being  faithless  and 
dishonorable. 

He  expressed  the  conviction  that,  after  we  should  have  re 
covered  possession  of  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  through  this, 
the  peaceful  medium  of  the  notice,  our  people  and  settlements 
both  on  the  north  and  south  side  of  the  Columbia  River  would 
so  spread  and  multiply,  that  Great  Britain  would  discover  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  turn  us  out,  even  if  she  were  to  try. 

"  But,"  he  added,  "  I  choose  to  be  frank  and  candid  in  this 
declaration  of  my  sentiments  on  this  question.  For  one,  I  never 
will  be  satisfied  with  the  valley  of  the  Columbia,  nor  with  49°, 
nor  with  54° -40' ;  nor  will  I  be  while  Great  Britain  shall  hold 
possession  of  one  acre  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America.  And 
I  will  never  agree  to  any  arrangement  that  shall  recognize  her 
right  to  one  inch  of  soil  upon  the  northwest  coast ;  and  for  this 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  93 

simple  reason:  Great  Britain  never  did  own,  she  never  did 
have  a  valid  title  to,  one  inch  of  that  country.  The  question 
was  only  one  of  dispute  between  Russia,  Spain,  and  the  United 
States.  England  never  had  a  title  to  any  part  of  the  country. 
Our  government  has  always  held  that  England  had  no  title  to 
it.  In  1826,  Mr.  Clay,  in  his  dispatches  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  said, 
6  It  is  not  conceived  that  the  British  government  can  make  out 
even  a  colorable  title  to  any  part  of  the  northwest  coast.'  Not 
that  she  could  not  make  out  a  title — not  that  she  could  not 
make  out  an  incontrovertible  title,  but  that  she  could  not  make 
out  a  colorable  title — not  a  shadow  of  a  title; — not  so  much  of 
a  shadow  as  would  give  coloring  to  the  transaction.  That  was 
the  doctrine  of  our  government  twenty  years  ago.  That  title 
has  undergone  no  changes  since  ;  for  the  joint  occupation  has 
been  in  force,  and  the  treaty  of  joint  occupation  provided  that 
the  rights  of  neither  party  should  be  affected  or  impaired  there 
by.  Our  government  has  held  ever  since  that  our  title  is  clear 
and  unquestionable. 

"  The  value  of  the  Oregon  Territory  is  not  to  be  measured 
by  the  number  of  miles  upon  the  coast,  whether  it  shall  termi 
nate  at  49°,  or  at  54°  40',  or  reach  to  61°  and  the  Arctic  Ocean. 
It  does  not  depend  on  the  character  of  the  country,  nor  the 
quality  of  the  soil.  It  is  true,  that  consideration  is  not  unwor 
thy  of  attention ;  but  the  great  point  at  issue — the  great  strug 
gle  between  us  and  Great  Britain,  is  for  the  freedom  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean ;  for  the  trade  of  China  and  of  Japan,  of  the  East 
Indies,  and.  for  the  maritime  ascendency  on  all  these  waters. 
That  is  the  great  point  at  issue  between  the  two  countries ; 
and  the  settlement  of  this  Oregon  Question  involves  all  these 
interests.  And  in  order  to  maintain  these  interests,  and  se 
cure  all  the  benefits  resulting  from  them,  we  must  not  only  go 
to  54°  40',  but  we  have  got  to  exclude  Great  Britain  from  the 
coast  in  toto" 

Such  were  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Douglas.  That  they  were  as 
honestly  entertained  as  they  were  fearlessly  expressed,  we  have 
no  doubt.  Nor  do  we  doubt  the  sincerity  of  that  reliance  on 
the  purposes  of  the  President  in  respect  to  this  question,  which 
is  so  forcibly  avowed  in  the  following  extracts  from  the  same 
speech : 

"I  was  willing  to  forgive  the  President  from  the  bottom  of 


94  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

my  heart  for  the  offer  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  in  August  last, 
when  I  saw  that  he  withdrew  that  proposition  after  it  had  been 
rudely  rejected  by  England;  that  he  asserted  our  title  to  the 
whole  country  ;  that  he  recommended  the  notice,  the  extension 
of  our  laws,  the  establishment  of  forts,  the  raising  of  mounted 
men,  the  establishment  of  mail  lines,  and,  what  was  better  than 
all,  that  he  laid  down  the  great  American  principle,  that  it 
*  should  be  distinctly  announced  to  the  world  as  our  settled  pol 
icy,  that  no  future  European  colony  or  dominion  shall,  with 
our  consent,  be  planted  or  established  on  any  part  of  the  North 
American  continent.'  To  what  did  the  President  refer  in  this 
declaration  ?  Why,  he  says  he  refers  to  the  '  North  American 
continent.'  What  part  of  it  ?  Certainly  not  to  Mexico  or  Cal 
ifornia,  for  they  are  not  European  colonies.  Certainly  not  to 
Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  or  New  Brunswick,  for  they  are  old  col 
onies  long  since  established,  and  the  President  says  that  'the 
existing  rights  of  every  European  nation  should  be  respected.' 
Certainly  not  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company ;  if  he  did,  it  would 
then  extend  the  principle  a  little  further,  or  to  the  Hudson  Bay 
as  well  as  to  Oregon.  To  what  did  he  refer  ?  Why,  evidently 
to  that  part  of  the  North  American  continent  which  now  re 
mains  vacant  and  unoccupied ;  for  he  says  '  that  no  futur9  Eu 
ropean  colony'  shall  be  planted,  with  our  consent,  on  any  part  of 
the  North  American  continent.  If  he  had  referred  to  the  old 
colonies,  he  would  not  have  spoken  of  '  future'  ones  ;  if  he  had 
referred  to  those  long  since  planted,  he  would  not  have  spoken 
of  colonies  hereafter  to  be  planted.  He,  then,  referred  to  the 
vacant  and  unoccupied  part  of  North  America ;  and  the  west 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  that  vacant  and  unoccupied  part  in 
reference  to  which  he  says  '  no  future  European  colony  or  do 
minion  shall,  with  our  consent,  be  planted  or  established'  there, 
or  on  our  northwest  coast.  And  here  let  me  remark,  that  there 
is  no  chance  for  equivocation — for  evading  the  position,  because 
England  has  now  no  colony  on  the  northwest  coast.  She  says 
she  has  no  colony  there.  If  you  look  into  the  act  of  Parliament 
extending  her  laws  there,  you  will  see  she  uses  very  emphatic 
language.  She  says  it  is  an  Indian  country. 

"  Sir,  she  then  spoke  of  it,  when  she  extended  her  laws  over 
Oregon,  as  being  an  Indian  territory,  not  within  the  Canadas, 
not  within  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  jurisdiction,  and  not 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  95- 

within  any  of  the  British  colonies  in  North  America ;  and  this 
is  the  very  section  of  country  to  which  Mr.  Polk  refers  when 
he  says  that  'no  future  European  colony  or  dominion  shall, 
with  our  consent,  be  planted  or  established  on  any  part  of  the 
North  American  continent.'  Now,  suppose  you  formed  a 
treaty  on  the  line  of  forty-nine  degrees,  and  establish  that  as 
the  boundary ;  is  that  not  giving  l  our  consent'  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  British  colony  on  our  continent  ?  Suppose  you 
agree  to  54°  40',  do  you  not  thereby  give  i  our  consent'  to  the 
establishment  of  a  '  future  European  colony'  north  of  that  line, 
and  yet  upon  the  North  American  continent?  Clearly,  sir. 
Any  treaty  of  boundary  on  the  northern  part  of  Oregon  would 
be  an  act — a  solemn  act  of  '  consent'  by  this  government  to  the 
establishment  of  a  future  European  colony  on  this  continent. 
But  the  President  has  announced  distinctly  to  the  world  as 
our  settled  policy,  that  that  consent  can  not  be  given.  Sir,  he 
who  knows  the  character  of  the  man — he  who  knows  the  stern 
integrity  of  his  political  character — he  who  knows  the  consist 
ency  of  his  whole  public  life — he  who  knows  his  fidelity  to  his 
principles,  must  know  that,  during  his  four  years,  this  '  settled 
policy'  will  not  be  unsettled  by  him.  He  is  not  the  man  to 
put  the  distinct  declaration  forth  to  the  world  in  the  name  of 
his  government  of  a  settled  policy,  and  then  to  sneak  back 
from  it- — to  violate  it — to  disgrace  himself  and  his  nation  during 
that  very  presidential  term  in  which  he  gave  the  notice.  Then, 
I  say,  that  during  these  four  years,  it  is  a  settled,  irrevocably 
settled  question,  that  no  treaty  fixing  a  boundary  for  the  north 
ern  part  of  Oregon  can  be  made.  Sir,  the  making  of  any  treaty 
fixing  a  boundary  would  be  a  palpable  violation  of  the  very 
principle  the  President  has  put  forth  in  his  message.  Bear 
ing  this  point  in  mind,  gentlemen  will  easily  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  President  in  all  his  recommendations — when  he 
said  that  no  compromise  of  this  question  could  be  made  which 
the  United  States  ought  to  accept — when  he  said  that  he  re 
asserted  our  claim  to  the  whole  country,  and  maintained  it  by 
irrefragable  facts  and  arguments — when  he  said  that  the  notice 
must  be  given,  and  the  exclusive  possession  regained — when 
he  said  our  laws  must  be  extended  there — when  he  said  that  at 
the  end  of  the  year  the  time  would  have  arrived  when  we  must 
either  maintain  our  claim  or  abandon  the  whole  of  it." 


96  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

The  debate  was  finally  terminated,  under  an  order  of  the 
House,  on  the  9th  of  February.  In  the  mean  time,  the  temper 
of  large  portions  of  our  people  had  oeen  wrought  up  to  high 
fever  point.  The  image  of  some  flagrant  wrong,  hidden  from 
their  knowledge,  as  they  supposed,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
rose  up  before  their  excited  visions  in  grim  demand  for  retri-, 
bution.  The  character  of  the  debate — the  fierce  appeals  which 
in  some  cases  were  made  to  popular  passions,  added  fuel  to 
the  flame.  They  who  had  raised  the  storm,  whose  muttering 
thunders  even  now  were  heard  in  the  distance,  began  to  realize 
the  conviction  that,  yet  a  little  while  longer,  and  they  could 
neither  control  nor  direct  it.  "  The  fact  is  not  to  be  disguised," 
says  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  his  dispatch  to  Mr.  M'Lane  of  January 
29th,  1846,  "that  the  feeling  of  the  country  is  becoming  daily 
more  unanimous  and  intense  in  favor  of  asserting  our  right  to 
the  whole  territory ;  and  the  debates  in  Congress,  and  their 
delay  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  the 
President,  only  serve  to  increase  the  popular  excitement.  Res 
olutions  of  state  Conventions  and  state  Legislatures  are  now  in 
succession  being  adopted,  in  favor  of  adhering  to  the  line  of 
54°  40'.  If  the  British  government  intend  to  make  a  proposi 
tion  to  this  government,  they  have  not  an  hour  to  lose  if  they 
desire  a  peaceful  termination  of  the  controversy." 

While  the  debate  was  in  progress,  on  the  3d  day  of  Febru 
ary,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Collamer,  of  Vermont,  a  call  was 
made  upon  the  President  for  all  correspondence  which  had 
passed  between  the  government  of  Great  Britain  and  that  of 
the  United  States,  or  between  any  of  the  officers  of  the  said 
governments,  in  relation  to  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  since  the  annual  message.  The  resolution  con 
tained  the  usual  reservation,  restricting  the  call  to  the  trans 
mission  of  such  information  as  might  not,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  President,  be  incompatible  with  the  public  interests. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  the  President,  in  answer  to  this  call, 
communicated  certain  portions  of  a  correspondence  which  had 
taken  place  between  Mr.  Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States,  and  Mr.  M'Lean,  minister  of  the  United  States 
at  the  court  of  Great  Britain,  in  respect  to  the  extensive  war 
like  preparations  then  making  by  the  latter  government.  Also, 
the  correspondence  between  Mr.  Buchanan  and  the  Right  Hon- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  97 

orable  Richard  Pakenham,  her  Britannic  majesty's  envoy  ex 
traordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary,  in  regard  to  two  dis 
tinct  propositions  of  arbitration  which  had  been  submitted  by 
the  latter,  and  declined  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  What 
was  the  nature  of  these  propositions,  and  what  were  the  reasons 
for  declining  them,  will  best  be  seen  from  the  letters  themselves, 
which  we  now  give : 

"  Mr.  Pakenham  to  Mr.  Buchanan. 

"WASHINGTON,  December  27 ',  1845. 

"  An  attentive  consideration  of  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
with  reference  to  the  Oregon  Question,  has  determined  the  Brit 
ish  government  to  instruct  the  undersigned,  her  Britannic  maj 
esty's  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary,  again 
to  represent,  in  pressing  terms,  to  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  the  expediency  of  referring  the  whole  question  of  an 
equitable  division  of  that  territory  to  the  arbitration  of  some 
friendly  sovereign  or  state. 

"  Her  majesty's  government  deeply  regret  the  failure  of  all 
their  efforts  to  effect  a  friendly  settlement  of  the  conflicting 
claims  by  direct  negotiation  between  the  two  governments. 

"  They  are  still  persuaded  that  great  advantages  would  have 
resulted  to  both  parties  from  such  a  mode  of  settlement,  had  it 
been  practicable ;  but  there  are  difficulties  now  in  the  way  in 
that  course  of  proceeding  which  it  might  be  tedious  to  remove, 
while  the  importance  of  an  early  settlement  seems  to  become 
at  each  moment  more  urgent. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  her  majesty's  government  think 
that  a  resort  to  arbitration  is  the  most  prudent,  and,  perhaps, 
the  only  feasible  step  which  could  be  taken,  and  the  best  calcu 
lated  to  allay  the  existing  effervescence  of  popular  feeling,  which 
might  otherwise  greatly  embarrass  the  efforts  of  both  govern 
ments  to  preserve  a  friendly  understanding  between  the  two 
countries. 

"  The  government  of  the  United  States  will  see  in  the  propo 
sal  which  the  undersigned  is  thus  instructed  to  make,  a  proof 
of  the  confidence  of  the  British  government  in  the  justice  of 
their  own  claim.  They  will  also  see  in  it  a  proof  of  the  readi 
ness  of  the  British  government  to  incur  the  risk  of  a  great  sac 
rifice  for  the  preservation  of  peace,  and  of  their  friendly  rela- 

VOL.  L— G 


98  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

tions  with  the  United  States.  It  is  made  in  a  spirit  of  mod 
eration  and  fairness,  of  which  the  world  will  judge. 

"  The  British  government  confidently  hope  that  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  will  not  reject  a  proposal  made  with 
such  a  friendly  intention,  and  for  a  purpose  so  holy. 

"  There  is  nothing  in  it,  they  are  convinced,  not  perfectly 
compatible  with  the  strictest  regard  for  the  honor  and  just  in 
terests  of  both  parties,  particularly  when  it  is  considered  of 
what  small  value  to  either  is  the  portion  of  territory  which  in 
reality  forms  the  subject  of  controversy,  compared  with  the  im 
portance  of  preserving  a  state  of  peace  and  good- will  between 
two  such  nations. 

"  The  undersigned  takes  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  re 
new  to  the  Hon.  James  Buchanan  the  assurance  of  his  high 
consideration.  R.  PAKENHAM. 

'  Hon  JAMES  BUCHANAN,  &c.,  &c." 

"  Mr.  Buchanan  to  Mr.  Pakenkam. 

"  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  Washington,  January  3,  1846. 

"  The  undersigned,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States, 
has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  note  of  Mr. 
Pakenham,  her  Britannic  majesty's  envoy  extraordinary  and 
minister  plenipotentiary,  dated  the  27th  ultimo,  by  which,  un 
der  instructions  from  his  government,  he  proposes  to  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  '  the  expediency  of  referring  the 
whole  question  of  an  equitable  division  of  that  (the  Oregon)  ter 
ritory  to  the  arbitration  of  some  friendly  sovereign  or  state.' 

"  The  undersigned  has  submitted  this  note  to  the  President, 
who,  after  having  bestowed  upon  it  that  respectful  considera 
tion  so  eminently  due  to  any  proposition  emanating  from  the 
British  government,  has  instructed  him  to  give  to  it  the  follow 
ing  answer : 

"  The  British  government  do  not  propose  to  refer  to  arbitra 
tion  the  question  of  the  title  to  the  Oregon  Territory,  claimed 
by  the  two  powers  respectively.  It  is  a  proposition  to  refer  to 
a  friendly  sovereign  or  state  merely  the  partition  or  l  equitable 
division'  of  that  territory  between  the  parties.  It  assumes  the 
fact  that  the  title  of  Great  Britain  to  a  portion  of  the  territory 
is  valid,  and  thus  takes  for  granted  the  very  question  in  dis 
pute.  Under  this  proposition,  the  very  terms  of  the  submission 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  99 

would  contain  an  express  acknowledgment  of  the  right  of  Great 
Britain  to  a  portion  of  the  territory,  and  would  necessarily  pre 
clude  the  United  States  from  claiming  the  whole  before  the  ar 
bitrator.  This,  too,  in  the  face  of  the  note  of  the  undersigned 
to  Mr.  Pakenham  of  the  30th  of  August  last,  by  which  the 
President  had  asserted,  in  the  most  solemn  form,  the  title  of 
the  United  States  to  the  whole  territory.  Even  if  there  were 
not  other  conclusive  reasons  for  declining  the  proposition,  this 
alone  would  be  deemed  sufficient  by  the  President. 

"  The  President  heartily  concurs  with  the  British  govern 
ment  in  their  regret  that  all  attempts  to  settle  the  Oregon  Ques 
tion  by  negotiation  have  hitherto  failed.  He  can  not,  however, 
concur  with  that  government  in  the  opinion  that  a  resort  to  ar 
bitration,  and  especially  to  an  arbitration  on  the  terms  proposed, 
would  be  followed  by  happier  consequences.  On  the  contrary, 
he  believes  that  any  attempt  to  refer  this  question  to  a  third 
power  would  only  involve  it  in  new  difficulties. 

"  In  declining  this  proposition,  the  President  refers  to  the 
sentiment  expressed  in  the  note  of  the  undersigned  of  the  30th 
of  August  last,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  that 
he  *  cherishes  the  hope  that  this  long-pending  controversy  may 
yet  be  finally  adjusted  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  disturb  the 
peace  or  interrupt  the  harmony  now  so  happily  subsisting  be 
tween  the  two  nations.' 

"  The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to 
Mr.  Pakenham  assurances  of  his  distinguished  consideration. 

"  JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

"Right  Hon.  RICHARD  PAKENHAM,  &c.,  &c.,  &c." 


"  Mr.  Pakenham  to  Mr.  Buchanan. 

"  WASHINGTON,  January  6,  1846. 

"  The  undersigned,  her  Britannic  majesty's  envoy  extraordi 
nary  and  minister  plenipotentiary,  has  had  the  honor  to  receive 
the  note  of  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  dated  the 
3d  instant,  in  answer  to  that  of  the  undersigned,  dated  the  27th 
ultimo,  containing  a  proposal  for  referring  the  question  of  an 
equitable  partition  of  the  Oregon  Territory  to  the  arbitration 
of  some  friendly  sovereign  or  state. 

"  The  undersigned  will  take  an  early  opportunity  to  trans 
mit  this  communication  to  her  majesty's  government. 


100  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  renew  to  Mr.  Buchanan 
the  assurance  of  his  distinguished  consideration. 

"  R.  PAKENHAM. 

"The  Hon.  JAMES  BUCHANAN,  &c.,  &c.,  &c." 

"  Mr.  Pakenham  to  Mr,  Buchanan. 

"  WASHINGTON,  January  16,  1846. 

"With  an  anxious  desire  to  contribute,  by  every  means  in 
his  power,  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion  of  the  question  pending 
between  the  two  governments  respecting  Oregon,  the  under 
signed,  her  Britannic  majesty's  envoy  extraordinary  and  minis 
ter  plenipotentiary,  has  reflected  on  the  contents  of  the  note  ad 
dressed  to  him  on  the  3d  instant  by  the  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  United  States,  in  answer  to  that  which  the  undersigned  had 
the  honor  to  address  to  him  on  the  27th  of  last  month. 

"  The  note  of  the  undersigned  proposed  to  the  government 
of  the  United  States  that  the  whole  question  of  an  equitable 
partition  of  the  Oregon  Territory  should  be  referred  to  the  ar 
bitration  pf  some  friendly  sovereign  or  state. 

"  In  his  answer,  the  Secretary  of  State  informed  the  under 
signed  that  his  proposition  could  not  be  accepted ;  that  it  did 
not  propose  to  refer  to  arbitration  the  question  of  the  title  to 
the  Oregon  Territory,  claimed  by  the  two  powers  respectively. 
That  in  proposing  to  refer  to  a  friendly  sovereign  or  state  mere 
ly  the  partition  or  equitable  division  of  the  territory  between 
the  parties,  it  assumes  the  fact  that  the  title  of  Great  Britain 
to  a  portion  of  the  territory  is  valid,  and  thus  takes  for  granted 
the  very  question  in  dispute.  That  under  this  proposition  the 
very  terms  of  the  submission  would  contain  an  express  acknowl 
edgment  of  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  a  portion  of  the  terri 
tory,  and  would  necessarily  preclude  the  United  States  from 
claiming  the  whole  territory  before  the  arbitrator  ;  and  this,  too, 
the  Secretary  of  State  goes  on  to  observe,  in  the  face  of  his  note 
to  the  undersigned  of  the  30th  of  August,  by  which  the  Presi 
dent  had  asserted,  in  the  most  solemn  form,  the  title  of  the 
United  States  to  the  whole  territory. 

**  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  undersigned,  in  the  present 
note,  to  renew  the  discussion  as  to  the  title  of  either  party 
(Great  Britain  or  the  United  States)  to  the  whole  or  to  any 
part  of  the  Oregon  Territory.  He  must,  however,  beg  leave, 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD    DOUGLAS.  101 

with  reference  to  the  observation  which  he  has  just  quoted,  to 
remind  the  United  States  Secretory  of  State,  that  if  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  have  formally  advanced  a  claim 
to  the  whole  of  the  Oregon  Territory,  it  is  no  less  certain  that 
Great  Britain  has,  in  a  manner  equally  formal,  declared  that 
she,  too,  has  rights  in  the  Oregon  Territory  incompatible  with 
the  exclusive  claim  advanced  by  the  United  States. 

"  This  declaration,  arising  from -a  conviction  equally  sincere, 
will,  the  undersigned  is  persuaded,  be  viewed  with  the  same 
consideration  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  as  they 
expect  that  their  own  declaration  should  receive  at  the  hands 
of  the  government  of  Great  Britain. 

"  This  premised,  the  object  of  the  undersigned  in  addressing 
to  Mr.  Buchanan  the  present  communication,  is  to  ascertain 
from  him  whether,  supposing  the  British  government  to  enter 
tain  no  objection  to  such  a  course,  it  would  suit  the  views  of 
the  United  States  government  to  refer  to  arbitration,  not  (as 
has  already  been  proposed)  the  question  of  an  equitable  parti 
tion  of  the  territory,  but  the  question  of  title  in  either  of  the 
two  powers  to  the  whole  territory ;  subject,  of  course,  to  the 
condition,  that  if  neither  should  be  found,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
arbitrator,  to  possess  a  complete  title  to  the  whole  territory,  there 
should,  in  that  case,  be  assigned  to  each  that  portion  of  terri 
tory  which  would,  in  the  opinion  of  the  arbitrating  power,  be 
called  for  by  a  just  appreciation  of  the  respective  claims  of  each. 

11  The  undersigned  has  suggested  a  reference,  on  the  above 
principle,  to  some  friendly  sovereign  or  state. 

"  This  the  undersigned  believes  to  be  the  course  usually  fol 
lowed  in  such  cases :  it  is  that  which  has  already  been  resorted 
to  by  the  two  governments  (and  more  than  once).  But  there 
may  be  other  forms  of  arbitration,  perhaps,  more  agreeable  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States. 

"  There  might  be,  for  instance,  a  mixed  commission,  with  an 
umpire,  appointed  by  common  consent,  or  there  might  be  a 
board  composed  of  the  most  distinguished  civilians  and  jurists 
of  the  time,  appointed  in  such  a  manner  as  should  bring  all 
pending  questions  to  the  decision  of  the  most  enlightened,  im 
partial,  and  independent  minds. 

"  In  the  present  position  of  affairs,  and  feeling  how  much  the 
interests  of  both  countries  require  an  early  as  well  as  an  ami- 


102  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

cable  aad  satisfactory  adjustment  of  existing  difficulties,  the  un 
dersigned  earnestly  invites  the  Secretary  of  State  to  take  the 
subject  of  this  note  into  consideration,  with  a  view  to  such  an 
arrangement,  on  the  principle  of  arbitration,  as  may  seem  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States  to  be  most  just,  wise,  and 
expedient. 

"  The  undersigned  takes  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  re 
new  to  the  Hon.  James  Buchanan  the  assurance  of  his  high 
consideration.  R.  PAKENHAM. 

"Hon.  JAMES  BUCHANAN,  &c.f  &c.,  &c." 

"  Mr.  Buchanan  to  M.r.  Pakenham. 

"  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  Washington,  February  4,  1846. 

"  The  undersigned,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States, 
has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  note  of  Mr. 
Pakenham,  her  Britannic  majesty's  envoy  extraordinary  and 
minister  plenipotentiary,  dated  on  the  16th  ultimo,  by  which 
he  again  proposes  a  reference  of  the  Oregon  Question  to  arbi 
tration.  Under  his  present  proposition,  the  powers  of  the  ar 
bitrator  would  not,  as  in  his  last,  be  limited  in  terms  to  the  di 
vision  of  the  territory  between  the  parties,  but  would  extend 
to  the  question  of  their  conflicting  titles.  There  is,  however, 
a  condition  annexed  to  this  offer  which  exposes  it  to  the  same 
objection,  in  point  of  fact,  if  not  in  form,  which  was  prominent 
ly  presented  in  the  answer  of  the  undersigned  to  Mr.  Paken- 
ham's  last  proposal.  This  condition  is,  '  that  if  neither  [party] 
should  be  found,  in  the  opinion  of  the  arbitrator,  to  possess  a 
complete  title  to  the  whole  territory,  there  should,  in  that  case, 
be  assigned  to  each  that  portion  of  territory  which  would,  in  the 
opinion  of  the.  arbitrating  power,  be  called  for  by  a  just  appre 
ciation  of  the  respective  claims  of  each.'  If  the  government  of 
the  United  States  should  consent  to  an  arbitration  upon  such  a 
condition,  this  might,  and  probably  would,  be  construed  into  an 
intimation,  if  not  a  direct  invitation,  to  the  arbitrator,  to  divide 
the  territory  between  the  parties.  Were  it  possible  for  the 
President,  under  any  circumstances,  to  consent  to  refer  the  sub 
ject  to  arbitration,  the  title,  and  the  title  alone,  detached  from 
every  other  consideration,  is  the  only  question  which  could  be 
submitted.  If  not  confined  to  a  single  point,  so  strong  is  the 
natural  disposition  of  arbitrators  to  please  both  parties,  that,  in 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  103 

almost  every  instance,  whether  of  national  or  individual  con 
troversies,  they  make  a  compromising  award.  We  have  a  mem 
orable  example  of  this  in  our  last  arbitration  with  Great  Brit 
ain.  Notwithstanding  that  the  arbitrator,  under  the  terms  of 
the  submission,  was  clearly  and  explicitly  confined  to  the  de 
cision  of  which  was  the  line  of  highlands  described  in  the  treaty 
of  peace  of  1783,  yet,  instead  of  pursuing  any  range  of  high 
lands  whatever,  he  advised  that  the  line  should  run  along  the 
bed  of  a  river,  and  actually  divided  the  territory  in  dispute  be 
tween  the  parties  by  *  the  middle  of  the  deepest  channel  of  the 
St.  John's.' 

"  The  undersigned  might  content  himself,  in  answer  to  the 
present  proposition,  with  a  reference  to  the  observations  con 
tained  in  his  last  note  to  Mr.  Pakenham,  of  the  3d  ultimo. 
In  that  it  was  plainly  intimated,  not  only  that  there  are  '  other 
conclusive  reasons  for  declining  the  proposition,'  independently 
of  the  one  which  had  been  prominently  stated,  but  it  was  ex 
pressly  asserted  as  the  belief  of  the  President '  that  any  attempt 
to  refer  this  question  to  a  third  power  would  only  involve  it  in 
new  difficulties.' 

"  The  undersigned  will,  however,  proceed  to  state  a  single 
reason,  which,  apart  from  the  intrinsic  difficulty  of  selecting  a 
suitable  arbitrator,  as  well  as  other  considerations  that  might 
be  adduced,  is  conclusive  on  the  mind  of  the  President  against 
a  reference  of  this  question  to  arbitration,  in  any  form  which 
can  be  devised,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  character  of  the  ar 
bitrator,  whether  sovereign,  citizen,  or  subject.  This  reason 
is,  that  he  does  not  believe  the  territorial  rights  of  this  nation 
to  be  a  proper  subject  for  arbitration.  It  may  be  true  that,  un 
der  peculiar  circumstances,  if  the  interest  at  stake  were  com 
paratively  small,  and  if  both  parties  stood  upon  an  equal  foot 
ing,  there  might  be  no  insuperable  objection  to  such  a  course. 
But  what  is  the  extent  of  territory  in  dispute  on  the  present 
occasion  ?  It  embraces  nearly  thirteen  degrees  of  latitude  along 
the  northwest  coast  of  the  Pacific,  and  stretches  eastward  to 
the  summit  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Within  its  limits  sev 
eral  powerful  and  prosperous  States  of  the  Union  may  be  em 
braced.  It  lies  contiguous,  on  this  continent,  to  the  acknowl 
edged  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  is  destined,  at  no  dis 
tant  day,  to  be  peopled  by  our  citizens.  This  territory  presents 


104  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  avenue  through  which  the  commerce  of  our  Western  States 
can  be  profitably  conducted  with  Asia  and  the  western  coasts 
of  this  continent,  and  its  ports  the  only  harbors  belonging  to 
the  United  States  to  which  our  numerous  whalers  and  other 
vessels  in  that  region  can  resort.  And  yet,  vast  as  are  its  di 
mensions,  it  contains  not  a  single  safe  and  commodious  harbor 
from  its  southern  extremity  until  we  approach  the  49th  parallel 
of  latitude. 

"  It  is  far  from  the  intention  of  the  undersigned  again  to 
open  the  discussion  of  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  two  powers 
to  the  Oregon  Territory.  It  is  sufficient  for  him  to  state  the 
continued  conviction  of  the  President  that  the  United  States 
hold  the  best  title  in  existence  to  the  whole  of  this  territory. 
Under  this  conviction,  he  can  not  consent  to  jeopard  for  his 
country  all  the  great  interests  involved,  and  by  any  possibility, 
however  remote,  to  deprive  the  republic  of  all  the  good  harbors 
on  the  coast,  by  referring  the  question  to  arbitration. 

"  Neither  is  the  territory  in  dispute  of  equal,  or  nearly  equal, 
value  to  the  two  powers.  While  it  is  invaluable  to  the  United 
States,  it  is  of  comparatively  small  importance  to  Great  Brit 
ain.  To  her,  Oregon  would  be  but  a  distant  colonial  posses 
sion,  of  doubtful  value,  and  which,  from  the  natural  progress 
of  human  events,  she  would  not  probably  long  enough  enjoy  to 
derive  from  it  essential  benefits,  while  to  the  United  States  it 
would  become  an  integral  and  essential  portion  of  the  republic. 
The  gain  to  Great  Britain  she  would  never  sensibly  feel,  while 
the  loss  to  the  United  States  would  be  irreparable. 

"  The  undersigned  is  perfectly  aware  that  such  considera 
tions  can  have  no  bearing  upon  the  question  of  the  title  of  ei 
ther  party.  They  are  presented  solely  for  the  purpose  of  ex 
plaining  the  views  of  the  President  in  his  refusal  to  adopt  any 
measure  which  should  withdraw  our  title  from  the  control  of 
the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States,  and  place  it 
within  the  discretion  of  any  arbitrator,  no  matter  how  intelli 
gent  and  respectable. 

"  The  President  cordially  concurs  with  the  government  of 
Great  Britain  in  desiring  that  the  present  controversy  may  be 
amicably  adjusted.  Of  this  he  has  given  the  strongest  proof 
before  the  whole  world.  He  believes  that,  as  there  are  no  two 
nations  on  the  earth  more  closelv  bound  together  bv  the  ties  of 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  105 

commerce,  so  there  are  none  who  ought  to  be  more  able  or  will 
ing  to  do  each  other  justice,  without  the  interposition  of  any  ar 
bitrator. 

"  The  undersigned  avails  himself  of  this  occasion  to  renew  to 
Mr.  Pakenham  the  assurance  of  his  high  consideration. 

"  JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

"  Right  Hon.  RICHARD  PAKENHAM,  &c.,  &c.,  &c." 

The  joint  resolution,  in  the  form  in  which  it  finally  passed 
the  House,  was  offered  as  an  amendment  by  Mr.  Linn  Boyd, 
of  Kentucky  ;  a  gentleman  whose  usually  quiescent  course 
challenges  but  little  of  public  observation,  but  whose  influence 
over  his  party,  in  regard  to  some  of  the  late  and  most  impor 
tant  measures  of  its  policy,  has  been  exemplified  in  a  manner 
not  less  signal  than  complimentary.  He  seems  to  possess  an 
effective,  but  unpretending  faculty  of  uniting  discordant  opin 
ions,  and  concentrating  them  upon  a  general  result,  not  surpass 
ed  by  that  of  any  member  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party. 

The  Congressional  Globe  thus  states  the  final  proceedings  on 
taking  the  question : 

"  Just  as  Mr.  Darragh  concluded,  the  finger  of  the  clock  rest 
ed  on  the  hour  of  three,  and  the  chairman  gave  the  table  one 
heavy  blow  with  the  hammer,  indicating  that  the  time  for  de 
bating  had  passed,  and  that  the  hour  for  action  had  come.  So 
the  committee  proceeded,  in  obedience  to  the  order  of  the  House, 
to  vote  on  amendments  '  pending,  or  that  might  be  offered.' 

"  Some  few  moments  were  taken  up  by  an  effort  of  the  chair 
man  to  induce  members  to  go  home  to  their  own  places,  instead 
of  crowding  the  *  area  of  freedom'  immediately  in  front  of  the 
speaker's  platform ;  and  something  like  a  clearance  having  been 
effected,  the  chairman  was  proceeding  to  put  the  question. 

"  Mr.  Pettit.  '  I  move  to  take  up  the  joint  resolution  of  the 
gentleman  from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Black].' 

"  The  Chairman.  *  It  is  not  in  order.' 

"  Now  the  state  of  the  question  before  the  committee  was 
this: 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll,  from  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs, 
had  reported  the  following  joint  resolution : 

"  '  Joint  resolution  of  notice  to  Great  Britain  to  "  annul  and 
abrogate"  the  convention  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 


X06  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

States  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-seven,  relative  to  the  country  "on  the  northwest  coast 
of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains,"  commonly 
called  Oregon. 

"  <  Resolved^  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled.  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  forthwith  cause  notice  to  be 
given  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  convention 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  concerning  the 
Oregon  Territory,  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-seven,  signed  at  London,  [shall  be  annulled 
and  abrogated  twelve  months  after  the  expiration  of  the  said 
notice,  conformably  to  the  second  article  of  the  said  convention 
of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven.]' 

"  This  resolution  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  had  moved  to  amend  by 
striking  out  all  that  portion  embraced  in  brackets,  and  insert 
ing,  '  shall  be  annulled  and  abrogated  at  the  expiration  of  the 
term  of  twelve  months  from  and  after  said  notice  shall  be  given, 
conformably  to  the  second  article  of  the  said  convention  of  the 
6th  of  August,  1827.' 

"  And  Mr.  Hilliard  had  heretofore  moved  to  amend  the  origi 
nal  resolution  by  striking  out  therefrom  the  words  <  forthwith 
cause  notice  to  be  given,'  and  inserting,  '  be  empowered,  when 
ever  in  his  judgment  the  public  welfare  may  require  it,  to  give 
notice.' 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  inquired  if  it  would  be  in  order  for  him 
to  withdraw  a  single  word  from  the  resolution  he  had  offered. 
He  wished  to  withdraw  the  word  '  forthwith.' 

"The  Chairman.  'From  which  proposition — that  of  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  or  that  which  the  gentleman 
himself  introduced  ?' 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll.  i  From  the  original  proposition.  I  wish 
to  expunge  the  word  "  forthwith."  ' 

"  The  Chairman.  <  It  can  be  done  by  unanimous  consent.' 

"  Objections  were  made. 

"  Mr.  Jacob  Thompson  submitted  that  the  gentleman  had  a 
light  to  modify. 

"  Mr.  G.  S.  Houston.  '  Not  to  modify  the  original  proposition, 
for  it  is  the  report  of  a  committee.' 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  107 

"  The  original  resolution  was  read,  as  also  the  amendment 
proposed  by  Mr.  Ingersoll. 

"  Mr.  Hopkins  suggested  that,  before  the  question  was  taken 
on  the  motion  to  strike  out,  it  would  be  proper  to  perfect  the 
original  resolution,  by  carrying  out  the  views  of  the  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania  [Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll].  It  would  be  remem 
bered,  that  after  one  proposition  had  been  stricken  out  and  an 
other  inserted,  it  would  not  be  competent  to  amend.  '  I  move, 
therefore,'  continued  Mr.  H.,  'to  strike  out  from  the  original 
resolution  the  word  "  forthwith."  ' 

"The  chairman  said  the  motion  would  be  in  order  after  the 
question  on  the  pending  amendment  had  been  taken. 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  remarked,  that  the  insertion  of  the  word 
'  forthwith'  was  a  mistake,  and  he  had  at  an  early  day  endeav 
ored  to  make  the  amendment  in  the  original  resolution. 

"  The  chairman  said  all  debate  was  out  of  order. 

"  Mr.  Ingersoll.  '  I  am  only  stating  a  fact,  not  debating.' 

"  Mr.  Preston  King  inquired  of  the  chairman  whether  the 
amendment  could  not  be  made  by  unanimous  consent. 

"  The  chairman  assented. 

"  But  objections  were  made. 

"  Mr.  Vinton  inquired  if  the  pending  amendment  was  a  sub 
stitute  for  the  original  bill. 

"  The  chairman  said  not. 

"  And  the  chair  proceeded  to  put  the  question. 

"  Mr.  Dromgoole  supposed,  he  said,  that  it  would  be  in  order 
now  to  offer  a  substitute  for  the  entire  report  of  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  and  he  sent  to  the  chair  the  following  prop 
osition  : 

"  *  Whereas,  by  the  convention  concluded  on  the  twenti 
eth  day  of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred,  and  eighteen, 
between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  King  of  the 
United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  it  was,  in 
the  third  article  thereof,  agreed,  that  any.  country  that  may 
be  claimed  by  either  party  on  the  northwest  coast  of  Amer 
ica,  westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains,  shall,  together  with  its 
harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of  all  rivers 
within  the  same,  be  free  and  open,  for  the  term  of  ten  years 
from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the  present  convention,  to 
the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects  of  the  two  powers,  it  being 


108  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

well  understood  that  this  agreement  is  not  to  be  construed  to 
the  prejudice  of  any  claim  which  either  of  the  two  high  con 
tracting  parties  may  have  to  any  part  of  the  said  country,  nor 
shall  it  be  taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any  other  power  or  state 
to  any  part  of  said  country,  the  only  object  of  the  high  con 
tracting  parties  in  that  respect  being  to  prevent  disputes  and 
differences  among  themselves :  And  whereas,  by  a  convention 
between  the  same  parties,  concluded  on  the  sixth  of  August, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  it  was  agreed 
to  continue  in  force  for  an  indefinite  period  the  provisions  of  the 
third  article  of  the  convention  of  the  twentieth  of  October,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen,  and  was  also  further 
agreed  and  provided  that  it  shall  be  competent,  however,  to 
either  of  the  contracting  parties,  in  case  either  should  think 
fit  at  any  time  after  the  twentieth  of  October,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  on  giving  due  notice  of  twelve 
months  to  the  other  contracting  party,  to  annul  and  abrogate 
this  convention ;  and  it  shall,  in  such  case,  be  entirely  annulled 
and  abrogated  after  the  expiration  of  said  term  of  notice :  And 
whereas  it  is  thought  fit,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  to 
annul  and  abrogate  said  convention, 

"'Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  as 
sembled,  That  the  said  convention  shall  be  annulled  and  abro 
gated  at  the  expiration  of  twelve  months  after  the  date  of  the 
delivery  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain  of  the  due  notice 
required  to  be  given. 

" '  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  hereby  authorized  and  required,  in  such  solemn  and 
respectful  mode  as  he  may  deem  proper,  to  cause  the  said  due 
notice  to  be  given  in  the  name  of  the  United  States,  one  of  the 
contracting  parties,  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  the 
other  contracting  party. 

" '  Be  it  further  enacted,  That,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling 
the  President  to  comply  herewith  at  as  early  a  day  as  he  may 
think  advisable,  there  be  appropriated  a  sum  not  exceeding 

dollars,  to  be  used  if  necessary,  and  to  be  paid  out  of  any 

money  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated ;  but  nothing 
in  this  act  is  intended  to  interfere  with  the  right  and  discretion 
of  the  proper  authorities  of  the  two  contracting  parties  to  renew 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  109 

or  pursue  negotiations  for  an  amicable  settlement  of  the  con 
troversy  respecting  the  Oregon  Territory.' 

"Mr.  Hopkins  inquired  if  the  question  had  been  taken  on 
the  word  '  forthwith.' 

"  The  chairman  said  it  had  not. 

"  Mr.  Ingersoll.  l  Does  the  amendment  which  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  [Mr.  Dromgoole]  proposes  to  offer  supplant  mine  ?' 

"The  Chairman.  '  It  does  not.  The  gentleman  may  offer  his 
amendment  as  a  substitute  for  the  whole,  but  the  vote  must 
first  be  taken  on  the  amendment  to  the  original  proposition.' 

"  The  question  on  Mr.  Ingersoll's  amendment  (given  above) 
to  the  original  resolution  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs 
was  then  taken,  and,  without  a  count,  agreed  to. 

"  The  committee  was  in  a  state  of  great  confusion. 

"  Mr.  Hunter  rose  to  inquire  whether  the  vote  had  been  taken 
on  Mr.  Ingersoll's  amendment,  and  if  so,  whether  it  had  been 
decided  in  the  affirmative. 

"  The  chairman  assented. 

"  Mr.  Hunter  inquired,  then,  whether  it  was  in  order  for  his 
colleague  to  move  to  strike  out. 

"  The  Chairman.  '  The  whole,  but  not  a  particular  part.' 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  IngersoU.  <  The  word  "  forthwith,"  Mr.  Chairman, 
is  it  in  or  out  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  l  It  is  in.  Does  the  gentleman  move  to 
strike  it  out  ?' 

"  Mr.  Ingersoll.  *  Certainly,  sir.' 

"  And  the  motion  having  been  agreed  to,  the  word '  forthwith' 
was  stricken  out. 

"  Mr.  Thomasson  said  he  would  send  to  the  chair  an  amend 
ment  which  he  intended  to  offer  if  the  proposition  of  the  gentle 
man  from  Virginia  [Mr.  Dromgoole]  should  be  voted  down. 

"  The  chairman  said  that  the  next  question  before  the  com 
mittee  was  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  Alabama 
[Mr.  Hilliard,  given  above]. 

"  Mr.  Adams  asked  the  clerk  to  read  the  resolution  as  it 
would  read  if  that  amendment  was  agreed  to ;  and  the  clerk 
having  done  so,  the  question  was  taken,  and  the  vote  stood, 
ayes  56,  nays  136.  So  the  amendment  of  Mr.  Hilliard  was 
rejected. 

"  Mr.  Dargan  now  offered  the  following,  as  an  addition  to 
the  resolution : 


110  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

"  '  That  the  differences  existing  between  the  government  of 
the  United  States  and  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  in  re 
lation  to  the  Oregon  Territory,  are  still  the  subject  of  honorable 
negotiation  and  compromise,  and  should  be  so  adjusted. 

"  '  That  the  line  separating  the  British  provinces  of  Canada 
from  the  United  States  should  be  extended  due  west  to  the 
coast  south  of  Frazer's  River,  and  from  thence  through  the 
center  of  the  Straits  of  Fuca  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  giving  to 
the  United  States  that  portion  of  the  territory  south,  and  to  the 
government  of  Great  Britain  that  portion  of  the  territory  north 
of  said  line.' 

"  Mr.  J,  A.  Rockwell  called  for  a  division  on  the  first  and 
second  clauses  of  this  amendment,  which  was  ordered. 

"  Mr.  Ashmun  moved  to  amend  the  amendment  by  striking 
out  the  first  section,  and  inserting : 

"  l  Whereas  the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  his  mes 
sage  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  session  of  Congress, 
informed  Congress  that  all  attempts  at  compromise  of  the  Ore 
gon  Question  had  failed,  it  became  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
consider  what  measure  it  might  be  proper  to  adopt  for  the 
maintenance  of  our  just  title  to  that  territory : 

" l  Whereas,  pursuant  to  the  recommendation  of  the  Presi 
dent,  the  House  of  Representatives  has  been,  since  the  second 
of  January  last,  assiduously  engaged  in  discussing  and  matur 
ing  measures  which  have  for  their  object  the  security  of  our 
just  rights,  among  which  measures  is  that  of  a  settlement  of 
the  controverted  questions  by  the  arbitration  of  an  impartial 
tribunal : 

"  *  Whereas,  while  the  consideration  of  these  measures  has 
been  pending,  the  President  of  the  United  States  did,  on  the 
fourth  day  of  February  instant,  notify  the  government  of  Great 
Britain  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  would  not 
consent  to  the  reference  of  this  question  to  arbitration  in  any 
form  which  can  be  devised : 

"  l  Whereas  the  President  has  thus  taken  from  Congress  the 
decision  of  this  question,  without  waiting  for  the  action  of  Con 
gress  upon  it :  Therefore, 

"  '  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  House,  that  the  Pres- 
idont  should  be  permitted  to  adopt  such  further  measures  re 
lating  to  this  question  as,  in  view  of  the  responsibility  which 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  Ill 

properly  belongs  to  him,  he  may  deem  expedient,  without  any 
further  expression  of  opinion  by  this  House.' 

"  The  amendment  to  tha  amendment  was  rejected. 

"  Mr.  J.  A.  Black  offered  the  following  as  a  substitute  for  the 
proposition  of  Mr.  Dromgoole : 

"  '  Whereas,  by  the  third  article  of  the  convention  between 
the  United  States  and  the  King  of  the  United  Kingdom  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  of  the  twentieth  of  October,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen,  it  was  agreed  that  any 
country  that  may  be  claimed  by  either  party  on  the  northwest 
coast  of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains,  shall,  to 
gether  with  its  harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation 
of  all  rivers  within  the  same,  be  free  and  open,  for  the  term  of 
ten  years  from  the  date  of  said  convention,  to  the  vessels,  citi 
zens,  and  subjects  of  the  two  powers,  but  without  prejudice  to 
any  claim  which  either  of  the  two  contracting  parties  may  have 
to  any  part  of  the  said  country : 

"  *  And  whereas,  by  another  convention  between  the  powers 
aforesaid,  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-seven,  the  said  temporary  provisions  of  the  third 
article  of  the  convention  of  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighteen  aforesaid,  were  continued  indefinitely,  and  have  thus 
remained  in  force  to  the  present  day : 

"  *  And  whereas,  by  the  provisions  of  the  second  article  of 
the  convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hund 
red  and  twenty-seven,  aforesaid,  the  right  was  reserved  to  either 
of  the  aforesaid  contracting  powers,  in  case  either  should  think 
fit,  at  any  time  after  the  twentieth  of  October,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  on  giving  due  notice  of  twelve 
months  to  the  other  contracting  party,  to  annul  and  abrogate 
the  said  convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  twenty-seven,  and  thus  to  terminate  the  tempo 
rary  arrangement  aforesaid : 

" '  And  whereas  the  said  territory  has  become  settled,  to  a 
great  extent,  with  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  incorporated  companies  emanating  from  said 
government  of  Great  Britain,  and  recently  by  a  large  number 
of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  by  direct  emigration,  so 
that  a  longer  continuance  of  the  above-recited  provisions  of  the 
convention  aforesaid  endangers  those  friendly  relations  which 


112  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

this  country  desires  to  maintain  with  all  nations,  on  honorable 
and  equitable  terms: 

"  '  And  whereas  this  government  has  made  repeated  and 
laudable  efforts  to  settle  and  adjust  the  claims  of  both  parties 
in  the  spirit  of  liberal  compromise,  but  without  success : 

"  '  With  a  view,  therefore,  of  fixing  a  limit  beyond  which  the 
final  adjustment  of  this  question^  so  essential  to  the  peace  of  the 
two  countries,  can  not  longer  be  delayed,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
affording  every  possible  opportunity  to  such  final  adjustment, 
on  terms  alike  honorable  and  satisfactory  to  both  parties : 

"  '  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  be  requested  to  give  due  no 
tice  of  twelve  months  to  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  that 
after  the  expiration  of  the  said  term  of  notice,  the  United  States 
of  America  will  annul  and  abrogate  the  said  convention  of  the 
sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven, 
so  continuing  the  provisions  of  the  third  article  of  the  conven 
tion  of  the  twentieth  of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  eighteen,  as  aforesaid.' 

"  The  question  was  then  taken  (by  tellers)  on  the  first  clause 
of  Mr.  Dargan's  amendment ;  and,  by  ayes  96,  noes  102,  it  was 
rejected. 

"  Mr.  Thomasson  desired  to  offer  an  amendment  to  the  orig 
inal  proposition, 

"  The  Chairman.  '  It  will  be  in  order  presently.' 

"  The  question  was  then  stated  to  be  on  the  second  clause 
of  Mr.  Dargan's  amendment. 

"Mr.  T.  B.  King  said  there  was  so  much  confusion  that 
nothing  could  be  heard. 

"  Tellers  were  asked  and  refused. 

f 

"  Mr.  Ashmun.  *  They  do  not  even  know  here  what  the  prop 
osition  is.' 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll.  <  Oh,  yes,  we  all  know  well.' 

"  [Several  voices :  '  Yes,  we  understand  it  well  enough.  Go 
it,  54°  40'.'] 

"  And  the  question  was  taken. 

"  If  there  was  one  affirmative  voice,  the  reporter  did  not  hear 
it ;  the  negative  vote  came  down  in  tones  loud  enough  to  split 
the  columns,  and  amid  the  heartiest  roars  of  laughter. 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  113 

"  So  the  second  clause  of  the  amendment  was  rejected. 

"  Mr.  Thomasson  wished  (he  said)  to  offer  an  amendment  to 
the  original  resolution,  which,  in  all  seriousness — 

"  The  Chairman.  '  No  remarks  are  in  order.' 

"  Mr.  Thomasson  then  offered  an  amendment,  giving  to  the 
President  the  power  to  give  the  notice  at  such  time  as  he  might 
deem  proper  (thus  striking  out  the  limit  as  to  the  twelve  months). 

"  The  Chairman.  '  The  amendment  is  out  of  order.' 

"  Mr.  John  A.  Rockwell.  <  I  propose  to  strike  out  the  whole 
of  the  original  resolution,  and  insert — ' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  Not  in  order  at  present.' 

"  Mr.  Rockwell.  '  I  think  I  can  obviate  the  difficulty.  Is  it 
out  of  order  to  offer  a  substitute  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  i  There  is  a  substitute  already  offered,  and 
a  substitute  for  that ;  and  that  is  as  far  as  can  be  gone.' 

"  Mr.  Rockwell  then  moved  to  insert  in  the  original  resolu 
tion,  after  the  words  '  to  states,'  the  words  '  be  and  he  is  here 
by  authorized  at  his  discretion ;'  also,  before  the  resolution,  to 
insert  the  following  preamble  : 

"  '  Whereas,  by  the  convention  concluded  the  twentieth  day 
of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen,  between 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  King  of  the  United  King 
dom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  for  the  period  of  ten  years, 
and  afterward  indefinitely  extended  and  continued  in  force  by  an 
other  convention  of  the  same  parties,  concluded  the  sixth  day  of 
August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-seven,  it  was  agreed  that  any  country  that  may  be 
claimed  by  either  party  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America, 
westward  of  the  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains,  now  commonly 
called  the  Oregon  Territory,  should,  together  with  its  harbors, 
bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of  all  rivers  within  the 
same,  be  "  free  and  open"  to  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects 
of  the  two  powers,  but  without  prejudice  to  any  claim,  which 
either  of  the  parties  might  have  to  any  part  of  said  country ; 
and  with  this  further  provision,  in  the  second  article  of  the  said 
convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-seven,  that  either  party  might  abrogate  and  annul 
said  convention  on  giving  due  notice  of  twelve  months  to  the 
other  contracting  party : 

"  *  And  whereas  it  has  now  become  desirable  that  the  re- 
VOL.  I.— H 


114  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

spective  claims  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  should 
be  definitely  settled,  and  that  said  territory  may  no  longer  than 
need  be  remain  subject  to  the  evil  consequences  of  the  divided 
allegiance  of  its  American  and  British  population,  and  of  the 
confusion  and  conflict  of  national  jurisdictions,  dangerous  to  the 
cherished  peace  and  good  understanding  of  the  two  countries  : 

" i  With  a  view,  therefore,  that  steps  be  taken  for  the  abro 
gation  of  the  said  convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  in  the  mode  prescribed  in 
its  second  article,  and  that  the  attention  of  the  governments  of 
both  countries  may  be  the  more  earnestly  and  immediately  di 
rected  to  the  renewed  efforts  for  the  settlement  of  all  their  differ 
ences  and  disputes  in  respect  to  said  territory.' 

"  Also,  to  add  the  following  proviso  : 

" '  Provided,  however,  That,  in  order  to  afford  ample  time 
and  opportunity  for  the  amicable  settlement  and  adjustment  of 
^all  their  differences  and  disputes  in  respect  to  said  territory, 
said  notice  ought  not  to  be  given  till  after  the  close  of  the  pres 
ent  session  of  Congress.' 

"  Mr.  Bowlin  suggested  that  the  committee  had  already  voted 
on  the  amendment,  and  that  it  was  not,  therefore,  in  order. 

"  The  Chairman.  i  Not  in  the  same  words.' 

"  The  question  on  the  first  and  last  of  these  amendments  was 
taken,  and  they  were  rejected.  On  the  other  one  no  question 
was  taken ;  but  whether  it  was  withdrawn  or  overlooked,  in  the 
great  confusion  of  the  hall,  the  reporter  can  not  say. 

"  Mr.  Ramsey  now  moved  to  strike  out  all  after  the  word 
1  resolved,'  and  insert  '  that  the  Oregon  Question  is  no  longer  a 
subject  of  negotiation  or  compromise.' 

"Tellers  were  ordered,  and  ten  members  passed  between 
them,  amid  shouts  of  laughter,  cries  of  '  54°  40'  forever,'  clap 
ping  of  hands,  and  stamping  of  feet,  which  the  chairman  was 
some  time  in  suppressing ;  and  the  negative  vote  was  then  tak 
en,  and  stood  146.  So  the  amendment  was  rejected" 

The  record  does  not  furnish  the  names  of  the  ten  who  voted 
in  the  affirmative,  but  we  give  them  as  follows : 

Alexander  Ramsey,  of  Pennsylvania ! 

Archibald  Yell,  of  Arkansas ! ! 

William  Sawyer,  of  Ohio ! ! ! 

Joseph  B.  Hoge,  of  Illinois ! ! ! ! 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DPUGLAS.  115 

Robert  Smith,  of  Illinois ! ! ! ! ! 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois !!!!!! 

Cornelius  Darragh,  of  Pennsylvania !!!!!!! 

John  A.  M'Clernand,  of  Illinois !!!!!!!! 

Felix  G.  M'Connell,  of  Alabama !!!!!!!!! 

John  Wentworth,  of  Illinois !!!!!!!!!! 

"  Mr.  Tredway  offered  an  amendment,  providing  for  the  ter 
mination  of  the  convention  at  the  end  of  two  years  after  no 
tice,  &c. 

"  The  Chair.  *  It  is  a  substitute,  and  not  in  order.' 

"  Mr.  Schenck  offered  an  amendment  to  the  original  resolu 
tion.  '  It  was,'  he  said,  '  the  same  as  the  first  clause  of  Mr.  Dar- 
gan's  proposition,  but  striking  out  the  words  "  and  compro 
mise,"  '  &c. 

"  The  amendment  was  read  as  follows  : 

"  '  That  the  differences  existing  between  the  government  of 
the  United  States  and  the  government  of  Great  Britain,  in  re 
lation  to  the  Oregon  Territory,  are  still  the  subject  of  honorable 
negotiation,  and  should  by  that  means  be  adjusted.' 

"  Tellers  (Messrs.  Douglas  and  M'Dowell)  were  appointed, 
and  the  vote  was  taken  (amid  very  great  confusion)  and  arr- 
nounced — first,  the  reporter  understood,  as  ayes  102,  noes  99, 
and  then  as  ayes  101,  noes  99.  So  the  amendment  was  agreed 
to.  But  some  dissatisfaction  appeared  to  exist,  and  a  new  count 
was  called  for. 

"  Mr.  Douglas  (one  of  the  tellers)  was  understood  to  say  that 
some  difficulty  had  arisen ;  the  members  having  passed  through 
very  rapidly,  a  mistake  might  possibly  have  occurred ;  but  he 
entertained  no  doubt  that  the  vote,  as  reported,  was  correct. 

"  The  chairman  ordered  another  count. 

"  Mr.  Rhett.  *  Did  not  the  chairman  distinctly  announce  that 
the  amendment  was  carried  ?' 

"  The  chairman  assented. 

"  Mr.  Rhett.  '  Then  I  object  to  the  vote  being  again  taken.' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  The  tellers  say  that  some  difficulty  had 
arisen,  and  some  mistake  may  have  occurred.' 

"The  chair,  therefore,  ordered  a  new  count  'The  gentle 
man  from  Illinois  [Mr.  Douglas]  and  the  gentleman  from  Ohio 
[Mr.  M'Dowell]  will  be  pleased  again  to  act  as  tellers.' 

"Mr.  Schenck  suggested  that  it  was,  he  believed,  the  rule 


116  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

(or  practice),  that  tellers  should  be  appointed  from  different  sides 
of  the  House. 

"  The  Chairman.  '  The  chair  has  no  objection ;  and,  there 
fore,  appoints  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Schenck]  himself, 
and  the  gentleman  from  Alabama  [Mr.  Chapman],  tellers.' 

"  So  Mr.  Schenck  took  up  his  line  of  march  from  the  remote 
part  of  the  hall  in  which  his  quarters  lie,  and  posted  himself  at 
the  center  aisle. 

"  Mr.  John  H.  Ewing  inquired  whether  the  chairman  had 
the  right  to  order  a  new  vote  on  a  question  which  he  had  al 
ready  declared  to  have  been  decided. 

"  [Several  voices :  l  No  debate.'] 

"  Mr.  Ewing.  '  It  is  a  question  of  order.  When  the  ques 
tion  was  taken,  and  the  chairman  had  announced  his  decision, 
there  was  an  end  of  it.' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  If  the  gentleman  wishes  to  appeal,  he  has 
the  right  to  do  so.' 

"  Mr.  Ewing  declined  to  appeal ;  though,  he  said,  he  supposed 
it  was  the  only  way  in  which  the  question  could  be  reached. 

"  Mr.  Schenck.  '  I  appeal.  I  understand  that  the  proposition 
was  carried,  and  that  it  was  distinctly  announced  so.  If  the 
chairman  now  says  that  another  count  can  be  taken,  I  appeal 
from  the  decision.' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  Certainly  the  chair  had  announced  that 
the  question  was  decided  in  the  affirmative.  The  tellers  ex 
pressed  doubt  on  the  subject.  They  say  it  is  possible  that  a 
miscount  may  have  taken  place,  as  they  had  some  difficulty ; 
and,  under  these  circumstances,  the  chair  ordered  a  recount.' 

"  Mr.  Rhett.  '  I  think  the  chairman  has  erred  in  this  partic 
ular.     He  had  no  right — ' 
'     "  [Great  confusion,  and  calls  to  order.] 

"  Mr.  Grider.  *  I  should  like  the  tellers  to  state  whether  they 
had  doubts,  and  what  was  the  extent  of  their  doubts.' 

"  Mr.  Roberts  submitted  that  tellers  having  been  again  or 
dered,  it  was  too  late  to  take  an  appeal. 

"  Mr.  Pendleton  desired  information  as  to  a  matter  of  fact. 
4  In  the  first  annunciation  of  the  affirmative  vote  by  the  tellers, 
was  it  not  formally  declared  that  the  vote  was  102  ?  It  was 
now  101.' 

"  Mr.  Douglas  explained  that  one  member  changed  his  vote. 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  117 

"  Mr.  Vinton  desired  to  be  informed  whether  both  of  the  tell 
ers  counted,  and  whether  there  was  any  difficulty  about  the 
count.  It  was,  he  believed,  the  duty  of  both  to  count,  and  then 
to  report  the  result  to  each  other  before  reporting  it  to  the  com 
mittee, 

"  Mr.  Henley  made  a  remark  (of  which  nothing  was  heard 
by  the  reporter). 

"Mr.  Douglas  said  that  both  the  tellers  did  count.  The 
members  passed  between  them  very  rapidly,  and  there  might 
possibly  have  been  a  miscount ;  but  he  believed  the  report,  as 
made  to  the  House,  was  accurate. 

"  The  chairman  was  about  to  take  the  question  on  the  appeal. 

"  Mr.  Yancey  asked  what  the  decision  was  from  which  an 
appeal  had  been  taken. 

"  The  chairman  enlightened  him. 

"  Mr.  Bayly  rose  for  information  as  to  a  matter  of  fact.  He 
had  understood  the  gentleman  from  Illinois  [Mr.  Douglas]  to 
state  that  the  tellers  had  agreed,  and  he  believed  the  count  to 
be  correct.  Was  this  so  ? 

"  The  chairman  again  invited  members  to  take  their  seats. 

"  Mr.  Ashmun  moved,  that  when  the  chair  appointed  tellers, 
one  should  be  taken  from  each  side  of  the  House. 

"  The  chairman  again  explained  what  his  decision  was,  and 
that  there  had  been  doubt  on  the  part  of  the  tellers. 

"  Mr.  Bayly.  '  Have  the  tellers  said  so  ?' 

"  Mr.  Collamer,  '  "We  do  not  understand  them  to  have  said  so.* 

"  Mr.  Schenck.  <  Do  the  tellers  undertake  to  say  that  the 
count  was  inaccurate  ?  Has  not  the  gentleman  from  Illinois 
[Mr.  Douglas]  said  he  believed  it  to  be  correct  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  *  Both  say  that  there  was  great  confusion, 
and  that  a  mistake  might  have  occurred.' 

"  Mr.  Schenck.  *  I  ask  again,  whether  the  gentleman  from 
Illinois,  one  of  the  tellers,  did  not  say  that,  notwithstanding  the 
confusion^  he  believed  the  count  to  be  accurate  ?' 

"  The  chairman  did  not  reply. 

"  *  Therefore,'  continued  Mr.  Schenck,  '  on  this  mere  possibil 
ity,  the  chair  orders  a  recount.' 

"  The  question  was  then  taken,  '  Shall  the  decision  of  the 
chair  stand  as  the  judgment  of  the  committee  ?'  and  was  de 
cided  in  the  negative,  ayes  90,  noes  108.  So  the  decision  of 


118*  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  chair  was  reversed ;  and  therefore  the  amendment  of  Mr. 
Schenck  was  declared  to  have  been  agreed  to. 

"Mr-  W.  Hunt  asked  for  the  reading  of  the  resolution  as  now 
amended ;  and  it  was  read. 

"  Mr.  Schenck  moved  that  the  committee  rise  and  report  the 
resolution. 

"  [Many  voices :  '  Oh,  no,  you  can't  do  that.'] 

"  The  Chairman.  '  There  are  other  amendments.* 

"  Mr.  Schenck  withdrew  his  motion. 

"  The  chairman  said,  the  question  would  now  be  on  the  sub 
stitute  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Black],  to 
the  substitute  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  [Mr.  Dromgoole], 

"  Both  propositions  were  read. 

"  Mr.  G.  S.  Houston  inquired  whether  it  would  be  in  order 
to  amend  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  before 
the  question  on  the  substitute  of  the  gentleman  from  South 
Carolina  was  put. 

"  The  chairman  answered  affirmatively. 

"  Mr.  Houston  proposed,  then,  to  modify  it,  by  inserting  in 
the  second  section,  after  the  word  '  months,'  the  words  i  con 
formably  to  the  second  article  of  said  treaty  of  the  6th  of  Au 
gust,  1827 ;'  and  also  to  amend  it  by  striking  out  the  appro 
priation  in  the  third  section,  and  throwing  the  latter  clause 
thereof  into  the  form  of  a  proviso.  Rejected. 

"  Mr.  Houston  called  for  a  division. 

"  Mr.  Thurman  moved  to  strike  out  the  third  section  of  Mr. 
Dromgoole's  substitute. 

"  Mr.  Haralson  said  that  the  amendment  was  not  in  order, 
because  the  vote  had  not  been  taken  on  the  amendment  of  the 
gentleman  from  Alabama  [Mr.  Houston]. 

"  The  Chairman.  *  Did  the  gentleman  call  for  a  division?7 

"  Mr.  Houston  said  he  had  done  so.  There  was  a  misunder 
standing,  he  thought,  as  to  the  question  before  the  committee. 

"  Tellers  were  refused ;  but  a  division  of  the  question,  on  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Boyd,  was  ordered. 

"  Mr.  Seaborn  Jones  called  for  the  reading  of  the  resolution 
and  amendment.  Read. 

"  The  question  was  then  taken,  and  the  two  amendments 
were  rejected,  seriatim. 

"  Mr.  Adams,  of  Mississippi,  proposed  to  offer  an  amendment^ 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  119 

which  the  chairman  said  was  not  in  order,  and  which  was  not 
read. 

"  Mr.  Thurman  renewed  the  motion  to  strike  out  the  third 
section  of  Mr.  Dromgoole's  substitute. 

"  After  an  inquiry  by  Mr.  Boyd  as  to  the  state  of  the  ques 
tion,  Mr.  Thurman  inquired  whether  the  chair  had  announced 
that  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Alabama  [Mr.  Hous 
ton],  to  strike  out  a  portion  of  the  third  section  of  the  substitute 
of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  had  been  carried. 

"  The  Chairman.  '  The  motion  was  lost.' 

"  The  question  was  then  taken  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Thur 
man,  and  it  was  rejected. 

"  Mr.  Stephen  Adams  proposed  so  to  amend  Mr.  Black's  sub 
stitute  as  to  add  a  proviso  that  the  joint  resolution  should  not 
be  so  construed  as  to  interfere  with  the  treaty-making  power 
upon  the  question. 

"  Mr.  M'Gaughey  rose  to  a  question  of  order.  The  proposi 
tion  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  was  offered  as  a  substitute 
for  the  original  resolution ;  so,  also,  was  the  substitute  of  the 
gentleman  from  South  Carolina.  Now  Mr.  M'Gaughey  sub 
mitted  that  there  could  not  be  two  substitutes  entertained  at 
the  same  time. 

"  The  chairman  said  he  thought  the  gentleman  was  correct. 
The  clerk  at  first  had  intimated  his  opinion  that  the  amendment 
was  in  order,  but  he  changed  his  opinion.  So  the  amendment 
was  not  in  order  [i.  e.9  Mr.  Adams's  amendment]. 

"  Mr.  Black.  '  Is  not  this  in  order  as  a  substitute  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  The  proposition  now  is  to  strike  out  the 
proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  and  insert  the  sub 
stitute  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina.' 

"Mr.  Seaborn  Jones  said  that,  if  in  order,  he  would  move 
an  amendment  to  the  substitute. 

"  Mr.  Biggs  was  understood  to  inquire  whether  the  question 
was  on  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina. 

"  The  Chairman.  '  That  is  the  question  now  before  the  com 
mittee.' 

"  Mr.  Ashmun.  *  I  understood  the  chairman  to  rule  that  that 
was  out  of  order.' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  No.  The  chair  ruled  that  the  amendment 
of  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi  [Mr.  Adams]  was  out  of  order.' 


120  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  Boyd.  '  I  would  like  to  know  whether  we  are  now  called 
upon  to  vote  on  the  second  substitute  ?  Or  is  it  in  order  to 
amend  it  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  Not  at  present.' 

"Mr.  Boyd.  'Will  it  be  in  order,  if  adopted  as  a  substitute 
for  the  substitute  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  If  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina  should  be  voted  down,  the  gentleman  can  offer 
a  modification.' 

"  Mr.  Boyd.  '  Is  it  in  order  now  to  move  to  strike  out  and 
amend  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  *  No ;  because  there  is  already  an  amend 
ment  to  an  amendment  pending.' 

"  Mr.  Faran  read  a  passage  from  the  Manual  having  refer 
ence  to  this  point. 

"  Mr.  Culver  called  for  the  reading  of  the  resolution  without 
the  preamble.  Read. 

"Mr.  Fries . desired  to  make  an  inquiry. 

"  [Cries  for  the  question.] 

"  The  Chairman.  *  Order.  The  gentleman  will  make  his  in 
quiry.' 

"  Mr.  Fries.  *  I  will,  when  the  committee  comes  to  order.  If 
the  committee  substitute  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from 
South  Carolina  for  the  amendment  of  the  gentleman  from  Vir 
ginia,  will  it  be  in  the  power  of  the  committee  to  amend  it  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  It  will  not.' 

"  [Several  voices :  '  Vote  it  down,  and  offer  a  modification.'] 

"  And  the  question  being  then  taken,  the  substitute  of  Mr. 
Black  was  rejected.  So  the  question  again  recurring  on  the 
substitute  of  Mr.  Dromgoole, 

"  Mr.  Boyd  moved  to  amend  it  by  striking  out  all,  and  in 
serting  the  following : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  cause  notice  to  be  given  to 
the  government  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  convention  between 
the  United  States  of  America  and  Great  Britain  concerning 
the  territory  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  west  of  the 
Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains,  of  the  sixth  day  of  August,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  signed  at  London, 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  121 

shall  be  annulled  and  abrogated  twelve  months  after  giving  said 
notice. 

"  Resolved ,  That  nothing  herein  contained  is  intended  to  in 
terfere  with  the  right  and  discretion  of  the  proper  authorities  of 
the  two  contracting  parties  to  renew  or  pursue  negotiations  for 
an  amicable  settlement  of  the  controversy  respecting  the  Oregon 
Territory." 

"  Mr.  Clarke  asked  the  reading  of  the  amendment  to  the 
original  resolution.  Read. 

"Mr.  Thomasson  rose  to  a  question  of  order.  l Could  the 
gentleman  from  Kentucky  [Mr.  Boyd]  offer  his  proposition  as 
a  substitute  for  both  propositions  now  pending  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  It  is  offered  only  as  a  substitute  for  the 
proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia.' 

"Mr.  M'Gaughey  pressed  the  point  of  order  raised  by  Mr. 
Thomasson.  <  The  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia 
was  offered  as  a  substitute  for  the  original  report  from  the  Com 
mittee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  This  was  now  offered  as  a  substi 
tute  of  the  other  substitute,  and  could  not  be  in  order.' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  No  debate  is  in  order.' 

"  Mr.  Boyd.  *  I  offer  it  as  an  amendment.  It  strikes  out  all 
the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  and  substitutes 
the  word  "  resolved"  for  the  words  "  be  it  enacted." ' 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll.  « Is  the  gentleman's  proposition  divis 
ible  ?' 

"  The  chairman  said  it  was  not,  because  the  gentleman  had 
offered  it  as  a  substitute  for  the  whole. 

"  After  an  inquiry  by  Mr.  Tredway,  the  question  was  taken 
by  tellers,  and  the  vote  stood,  ayes  110,  noes  93.  So  the  amend 
ment  was  agreed  to. 

"  The  question  then  recurred  on  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Drom- 
goole  as  thus  amended. 

"  On  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Boyd,  the  two  propositions  were 
again  read. 

"  Mr.  Thomasson  asked  that  his  proposition  of  amendment 
might  be  read ;  because,  if  the  House  rejected  the  present  prop 
osition,  he  should  offer  his. 

"  The  amendment  of  Mr.  Thomasson  was  read.  It  declares 
it  expedient  to  annul  the  convention,  and  authorizes  the  Presi 
dent  to  give  the  notice  at  such  time  as  he  may  deem  the  public 
interests  require. 


122  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  Jacob  Thompson  inquired  whether  the  proposition  of 
the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  [Mr.  Boyd]  was  susceotible  of 
amendment. 

"  The  chairman  said  not. 

"  Mr.  Thompson.  *  It  is  not  susceptible  of  amendment  V 

"  The  Chairman.  '  It  is  not.' 

"  Mr.  Thompson.  '  Is  it  susceptible  of  division  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  l  It  is  not.' 

"  Mr.  Burt  desired  to  know  whether,  if  the  proposition  of  the 
gentleman  from  Kentucky  should  be  adopted  as  a  substitute 
for  that  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  it  would*  be  sub 
ject  to  amendment. 

"  The  chairman  said  not. 

"  Mr.  Burt.  '  Is  it  subject  to  amendment  now  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  t  It  is  not.     It  must  first  be  voted  down.' 

"  Mr.  Burt.  '  I  beg  to  understand  the  chair.  The  proposition 
of  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky,  if  I  understand,  will  not  be 
subject  to  amendment  in  any  event,  either  now,  or  if  it  should 
be  adopted  as  a  substitute  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  <  It  would  not  be  subject  to  amendment.' 

"Mr.  Burt.  'Well,  sir.' 

1 '  Mr.  Schenck  rose  to  a  point  of  order.  An  original  resolution, 
containing  a  distinct  proposition,  had  come  from  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs.  That  was  amended  by  the  insertion  of 
another  distinct  proposition.  A  motion  was  now  made  to  strike 
out  the  whole,  and  substitute  another  proposition.  He  sub 
mitted  that  the  distinct  proposition  on  which  the  committee 
had  voted,  and  which  had  been  inserted,  could  not  be  stricken 
out,  either  alone,  or  in  connection  with  other  matter. 

"  And,  to  sustain  himself  on  this  point  of  order,  he  desired  to 
read  an  extract  from  the  Manual,  which  the  chairman  said  he 
would  be  very  happy  to  hear. 

"  And  the  extract  having  been  read,  the  chairman  overruled 
the  point  of  order. 

"  Mr.  Schenck.  *  I  submit  that  the  second  resolution  is  a  dis 
tinct  proposition,  not  so  connected  with  the  other  part  that  a 
motion  to  strike  out  the  whole  can  be  entertained.' 

"  The  Chairman.  l  The  two  resolutions  being  only  a  series  of 
resolutions  in  reference  to  the  same  matter,  the  whole  series 
may  be  stricken  out,  although  one  of  the  resolutions  may  have 
been  inserted.' 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  123 

"  Tellers  were  then  appointed,  and  the  vote  having  been 
taken,  stood  ayes  109,  noes  94.  So  the  amendment  as  amend 
ed  was  agreed  to. 

"  Mr.  Pettit  moved  that  the  committee  rise,  and  report  the 
joint  resolution  to  the  House. 

"  Mr.  Cobb  submitted  a  similar  motion. 

"  Mr.  E.  H.  Ewing  desired  to  offer  an  amendment. 

"  The  Chairman.  *  Not  in  order.  The  committee  have  noth 
ing  now  to  do  but  to  rise  and  report.' 

"  Mr.  Baker.  *  Is  there  no  amendment  pending  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  l  None/ 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll.  c  I  have  an  amendment  I  desire  to  offer.' 

"  The  Chairman.  '  No  amendment  is  now  in  order.' 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  IngersoU.  <  Why  ?' 

"  The  Chairman.  l  The  chair  can  not  enter  into  a  disquisi 
tion  on  the  reasons  why.' 

"  The  question  having  been  then  taken  and  agreed  to,  th6 
committee  rose,  and  the  chairman  reported  that  the  Committee 
of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union  had  had  under  consid 
eration  the  state  of  the  Union  generally,  and  particularly  the 
joint  resolution  concerning  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  and  that 
the  committee  had  instructed  him  to  report  the  same  to  the 
House  with  one  amendment. 

"  And  the  question  being  on  concurring  with  the  committee, 
Mr.  Bowlin  demanded  the  previous  question. 

"  Mr.  Price  not  hearing  him,  remarked  that  the  question  had 
been  fully  and  ably  discussed,  and  he  would  therefore  move  the 
previous  question. 

"  Mr.  R.  Chapman  made  an  earnest  appeal  to  Mr.  Bowlin  to 
withdraw  the  demand.  There  were  a  few  members  who  were 
very  desirous  to  be  heard,  and  who,  for  some  days  past,  had 
been  endeavoring  to  get  the  floor.  He  was  himself  desirous 
that  the  subject  should  be  acted  on  to-day,  but  why  should  tha 
question  be  taken  when  there  was  ample  time  left  to  hear  those 
who  ought  to  be  heard,  and  had  a  right  to  be  heard  ? 

"  Mr.  Bowlin  was  immovable. 

"  Mr.  Chapman  gave  notice  of  his  intention  to  expose  the  in- 
justice  that  was  done. 

"  The  question  on  the  demand  for  the  previous  question  was 
then  taken,  and  there  was  a  second. 


124  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  Pendleton  asked  the  yeas  and  nays  on  ordering  the 
main  question,  which  were  refused. 

"  And  the  main  question  was  ordered  to  be  now  taken. 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  asked  the  yeas  and  nays  thereon,  which 
were  ordered. 

"  Mr.  Jacob  Thompson  called  for  the  reading  of  the  proposi 
tion  before  the  House,  which  having  been  read,  Mr.  Thomp 
son  asked  for  a  division  of  the  question. 

"  Mr.  George  W.  Jones  asked  what  the  precise  state  of  the 
question  was. 

"  The  speaker  explained,  and  a  brief  conversation  ensued  on 
a  point  of  order  between  the  chair  and  Mr.  Hamlin. 

"  Mr.  Jacob  Thompson  inquired  of  the  chair  whether,  if  the 
amendment  of  Mr.  Boyd  should  be  concurred  in,  the  question 
would  not  then  be  on  the  engrossment  of  the  joint  resolution  as 
amended,  and  could  not  the  question  then  be  divided  ? 

"  The  speaker  said  no ;  the  question  of  division,  if  at  all, 
must  be  taken  now. 

"  And  it  was  ordered,  on  a  call  to  that  effect  in  one  or  two 
quarters. 

"  The  reading  of  the  proposition  was  called  for.     Read. 

11  After  a  remark  from  the  speaker  that  gentlemen  called  for 
the  reading  of  the  resolution,  and  then  made  so  much  noise  that 
nothing  could  be  heard,  a  brief  conversation  on  a  point  of  order 
took  place  between  Mr.  Milton  Brown  and  the  speaker. 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  said,  if  he  correctly  understood,  the  first 
branch  of  the  proposition  was  precisely  tantamount  to  the  orig 
inal  report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.  It  was  a  ques 
tion  merely  whether  we  should  substitute  one  thing  for  another. 
He  suggested,  therefore,  that,  by  general  consent,  the  taking 
of  the  yeas  and  nays  on  the  first  branch  should  be  dispensed 
with. 

"  Strong  objections  made. 

"  Mr.  Boyd.  i  Is  it  competent  to  divide  this  question  when 
the  committee  have  reported  it  to  the  House  as  an  entire  prop 
osition  ?  As  such,  I  think  the  vote  should  be  taken  upon  it.' 

"  The  Speaker.  '  The  chair  has  decided  that  question.' 

"  Mr.  Boyd  appealed  from  the  decision. 

"  Mr.  Vance  said  that  the  chairman  of  the  committee  had 
positively  decided  that  the  proposition  could  not  be  divided. 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  125 

After  it  had  been  reported  to  the  House,  a  division  was  pro 
posed.  Could  that  be  done  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the 
House  and  the  decision  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  ? 

"  The  Speaker.  '  This  question  came  up  on  a  previous  oc 
casion  in  connection  with  a  certain  bill.  The  chair  then  decided 
that  the  proposition  could  not  be  divided.  The  chair,  under 
similar  circumstances,  would  so  decide.  But  in  the  present 
case,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  reported  a  certain  amend 
ment.  It  came  before  the  House  in  the  form  of  a  report.  It 
contains  two  distinct  propositions ;  and  when  the  House  comes 
to  act  on  the  question  of  concurrence  with  the  report  of  the 
committee,  it  is  competent  for  it  to  divide  the  question.  The 
chair  asks  the  clerk  to  read  the  precedent.' 

"  Which  having  been  done,  Mr.  Boyd  appealed  from  the  de 
cision.  He  simply  wished,  he  said,  to  refer  to  the  fact  that  in 
committee  he  had  offered  this  proposition  as  a  substitute  for  the 
original  resolution.  That  was  the  report  which  the  committee 
ordered  to  be  made  to  the  House  as  a  whole,  as  a  substitute, 
and  now  it  was  proposed  to  kill  it  Diecemeal  by  dividing  it.  ,  If 
such  was  not  the  report  of  the  cnairman,  then  he  had  not  re 
ported  what  the  committee  desired  and  instructed  him  to  report. 

"  The  Speaker.  l  No  debate  is  in  order.' 

"  Mr.  Boyd.  '  I  ask  simply  that  the  vote  may  be  taken  upon 
the  report  of  the  committee.' 

"  Mr.  Dromgoole  rose  to  inquire  whether  the  chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union  had  not 
made  a  report  of  one  simple  amendment  to  the  proposition  orig 
inally  submitted,  and  whether  the  only  question  now  was  not 
on  concurring  with  the  committee  in  their  proposed  amendment 
to  the  original  proposition  ?  If  so,  was  it  ever  heard  or  dreamed 
that  the  question  of  concurrence  was  divisible  ? 

"  Mr.  Tibbatts  (the  chairman)  rose  to  a  matter  of  fact. 

"  The  Speaker.  <  This  debate  is  all  out  of  order.' 

"  Mr.  Tibbatts.  '  I  reported  an  entire  substitute  for  the  orig 
inal  proposition ;  and  I  concur  with  my  friend  that  the  question 
is  not  divisible.  I  so  decided  in  committee ;  and  I  recollect  a 
case  where  I  was  myself  overruled  on  a  former  occasion,  al 
though,  as  I  think,  against  all  rule,  on  a  decision  that  a  motion 
to  strike  out  and  insert  was  not  divisible.' 

"  Mr.  Houston  proceeded  to  make  a  remark. 


126  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  The  Speaker.  '  The  chair  has  again  and  again  stated  that 
the  question  is  not  debatable.' 

"  Mr.  Collamer  inquired,  '  If  a  vote  should  be  taken  in  refer 
ence  to  this  question  of  concurrence,  and  the  House  should  not 
concur  in  the  last  proposition,  what  would  be  the  next  question 
put?' 

"  The  speaker  said,  'On  the  engrossment  of  the  joint  resolu 
tion.' 

"Mr.  Collamer.  'Not,  then,  on  the  amendment  which  the 
committee  made  ?' 

"  The  Speaker.  '  On  the  original  resolution.' 

"  The  question  was  then  taken,  '  Shall  the  decision  of  the 
chair  stand  as  the  judgment  of  the  House?'  and  decided  in 
the  negative.  So  the  decision  of  the  chair  was  reversed ;  and 
the  House  decided  that  the  question  was  not  divisible." 

No  vote  was  taken  on  the  immediate  question  of  the  pas- 
-sage  of  the  resolution,  for,  says  the  record,  "  it  was  decided  in 
the  affirmative  without  a  division ;"  but,  on  the  question  of 
ordering  it  to  be  engrossed  for  a  third  reading — &  test  of  the 
ultimate  fate  of  the  measure — the  yeas  and  nays  were  taken, 
and  are  found  thus  recorded : 

"  Yeas  :  Messrs.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Stephen  Adams,  An 
derson,  Arnold,  Atkinson,  Baker,  Barringer,  Bell,  Benton, 
Biggs,  James  Black,  James  A.  Black,  Blanchard,  Bowlin,  Boyd, 
Brinckerhoff,  Brockenbrough,  Brodhead,  William  G.  Brown, 
Buffington,  William  W.  Campbell,  John  H.  Campbell,  Cath- 
cart,  Reuben  Chapman,  Chase,  Chipman,  Clarke,  Cobb,  Collin, 
Constable,  Cullom,  Culver,  Cummins,  Cunningham,  Daniel, 
Darragh,  Jefferson  Davis,  Delano,  De  Mott,  Dillingham,  Dob 
bin,  Douglas,  Dromgoole,  Dunlap,  Edsall,  Ellsworth,  Erdman, 
John  H.  Ewing,  Faran,  Ficklin,  Foster,  Fries,  Garvin,  Gid- 
dings,  Giles,  Goodyear,  Gordon,  Graham,  Grider,  Grover, 
Hamlin,  Hampton,  Haralson,  Harmanson,  Harper,  Henley, 
Hilliard,  Hoge,  Elias  B.  Holmes,  Hopkins,  Hough,  George  S. 
Houston,  Hungerford,  Washington  Hunt,  James  B.  Hunt, 
Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  Jenkins,  James  H.  Johnson,  Joseph  John 
son,  Andrew  Johnson,  George  W.  Jones,  Seaborn  Jones,  Ken 
nedy,  Preston  King,  Lawrence,  Leib,  La  Sere,  Lewis,  Levin, 
Ligon,  Lumpkin,  Maclay,  M'Clean,  M'Clelland,  M'Clermand, 
M'Connell,  M'Crate,  M'Dowell,  M'Gaughey,  M'Henry,  M'll- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  127 

vaine,  M'Kay,  John  P.  Martin,  Barclay  Martin,  Morris,  Morse, 
Moulton,  Niven,  Norris,  Owen,  Parish,  Payne,  Perrill,  Perry, 
Pettit,  Phelps,  Pollock,  Price,  Ramsey,  Rathbun,  Reid,  Relfe, 
Ritter,  Roberts,  Root,  Runk,  Russell,  Sawtelle,  Sawyer,  Scam- 
mon,  Schenck,  Seaman,  Severance,  Leonard  H.  Sims,  Albert 
Smith,  Thomas  Smith,  Robert  Smith,  Stanton,  Starkweather, 
Stewart,  St.  John,  Strong,  Sykes,  Thomasson,  Jas.  Thompson, 
Jacob  Thompson,  Thurman,  Tibbatts,  Tilden,  Towns,  Trumbo, 
Vance,  Wentworth,  Wheaton,  White,  Wick,  Williams,  Wil- 
mot,  Woodruff,  Woodworth,  Yell,  Young,  and  Yost— 163. 

"  Nays :  Messrs.  Abbott,  Ashmun,  Bayly,  Bedinger,  Milton 
Brown,  Burt,  John  G.  Chapman,  Augustus  A.  Chapman,  Cocke, 
Collamer,  Cranston,  Crozier,  Dargan,  Garrett  Davis,  Dixon, 
Dockery,  Edwin  H.  Ewing,  Foot,  Gentry,  Grinnell,  Herriok, 
Isaac  E.  Holmes,  John  W.  Houston,  Edmund  W.  Hubard, 
Samuel  D.  Hubbard,  Hudson,  Hunter,  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll, 
Daniel  P.  King,  Leake,  Long,  Marsh,  Miller,  Moseley,  Pen- 
dleton,  Rhett,  Julius  Rockwell,  John  A.  Rockwell,  Seddon, 
Alex.  D.  Sims,  Simpson,  Truman  Smith,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  Ste 
phens,  Strohm,  Thibodeaux,  Benj.  Thompson,  Toombs,  Tred- 
way,  Vinton,  Winthrop,  Woodward,  Wright,  and  Yancey — 54." 

So  the  joint  resolution  was  passed. 

It  was  then  sent  to  the  Senate,  to  which  body  the  plan 
of  our  work  does  not,  at  this  moment,  require  us  to  follow 
it,  except  for  the  purpose  of  stating  general  results.  Details 
will  find  an  appropriate  place  as  we  proceed  with  our  labors. 
The  debate,  however,  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
extraordinary  of  which  any  trace  can  be  found  in  our  legis 
lative  annals.  While  the  issues  of  peace  and  war  were  yet 
trembling  in  the  balance,  the  Senate  was  absorbed  in  nice  phil 
ological  and  metaphysical  disquisitions  as  to  what  the  intent 
and  meaning  of  the  President  concerning  the  territory  truly 
was  ;  whether  fifty-four  degrees  forty  minutes  did  not,  in  fact, 
mean  forty-nine  degrees  of  north  latitude,  and  vice  versti.  The 
usual  interpretation  of  words  applied  to  the  language  of  the 
President  failed,  for  some  cause  not  penetrable  by  the  eyes  of 
ordinary  mortals,  to  dispel  the  mystery.  Lexicographers,  cheer 
fully  confided  in  by  men  as  to  all  the  common  transactions  of 
life,  were  abandoned  in  despair.  The  English  language  had 
ceased  to  be  an  intelligible  idiom.  Not  the  least  striking  char- 


128  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

acteristic  of  this  state  of  uncertainty  and  confusion  was,  that 
he  who,  by  one  breath  of  his  nostrils,  could  have  dissipated  ev 
ery  doubt,  reposed  in  the  White  House  apparently  unmoved. 
as  alabaster,  while  the  two  divisions  of  his  friends  in  the  Sen 
ate  were  vainly  endeavoring  to  expound  his  doctrine.  Each  of 
these  divisions  claimed  him  as  its  own — the  one  for  fifty-four 
forty,  the  other  for  forty-nine.  The  alternations  of  hope  and 
disappointment  in  the  one  and  the  other,  as  each  appeared  day 
by  day  to  have  gained  some  new  light  which  would  definitely 
solve  the  problem,  were  strange  to  look  upon.  To-day,  a  sen 
ator,  peacefully  inclined  to  the  parallel  of  forty-nine,  would 
make  manifest,  in  an  elaborate  argument,  the  identity  of  the 
President's  views  with  his  own.  To-morrow,  a  senator  of  the 
latitude  of  fifty-four  forty  would  demonstrate,  in  words  of  fire, 
how  deplorably  benighted  as  to  the  views  and  objects  of  the 
President  the  senator  of  forty-nine  had  shown  himself,  and  how 
impossible  it  was  that  the  President  COULD,  even  in  contempla 
tion,  recede  from  the  position  he  had  taken  before  all  mankind, 
and  adopt  that  parallel. 

One  of  these  scenes  is  of  so  extraordinary  a  character,  that 
we  can  not  more  interest  our  readers,  we  think,  than  by  trans 
ferring  it  from  the  record  of  the  5th  of  March,  1846. 

Mr.  Haywood,  of  North  Carolina,  had  been  making  a  speech, 
the  main  object  of  which  was  to  show  the  peaceful  tendencies 
of  the  President  on  this  disputed  question,  and  his  willingness 
to  compromise  on  the  basis  of  forty-nine. 

"  Mr.  Hannegan  then  rose  and  said : 

"  '  I  must  apologize  to  the  Senate  for  obtruding  myself  upon 
its  attention  at  this  advanced  period  of  the  day,  particularly  as 
I  have  already  occupied  its  attention  on  several  occasions  in 
the  course  of  this  debate. 

"  *  Before  I  proceed  to  make  any  reply  to  the  speech  of  the 
senator  from  North  Carolina — the  most  extraordinary  speech  to 
which  I  have  ever  listened  in  the  course  of  my  life — I  desire, 
through  the  Vice-president,  to  put  a  question  to  him  which  I 
have  committed  to  writing.  It  is  this :  I  ask  him  if  he  has  the 
authority  of  the  President,  directly  or  indirectly,  for  saying  to 
the  Senate  that  it  is  his  (the  President's)  wish  to  terminate  the 
Oregon  Question  by  compromising  with  Great  Britain  on  the 
forty-ninth  degree  of  north  latitude  ?' 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  129 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood.  i  Is  the  Vice-president  to  be  the  catechist  ?' 

"  Mr.  Hannegan.  ;  I  put  the  question  in  the  usual  way, 
through  the  chair.' 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood.  '  I  have  already  said  what,  for  fear  of  mis 
take,  I  had  previously  written,  and  which  I  shall  print.  It 
would  be  unwise  and  impolitic  for  the  President  to  authorize 
any  senator  to  make  such  a  declaration  as  that  implied  in  the 
question  of  the  senator  from  Indiana.' 

"  Mr.  Allen  [chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela 
tions].  *  I  desire  to  say  that  I  construe  the  answer  of  the  sena 
tor  from  North  Carolina  into  a  negative.' 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood.  i  Then  I  desire  to  say  that  my  friend  from 
Ohio  only  proves  what  I  have  shown  on  a  former  occasion,  that 
lie  is  a  very  bad  hand  at  construction.' 

"  Mr.  Allen.  'Well,  then,  I  will  adopt  the  other  construc 
tion,  and  consider  his  answer  as  an  affirmative ;  and  I  put  the 
question,  and  demand  an  answer  to  it  as  a  public  right.  The 
senator  here  has  assumed  to  speak  for  the  President.  His 
speech  goes  to  the  world ;  and  I  demand,  as  a  public  right, 
that  he  answer  the  question,  and,  if  he  won't  answer  it,  I  stand 
ready  to  deny  that  he  has  expressed  the  views  of  the  President.' 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood  said  that,  had  he  occupied  the  station  of 
chairman  of  a  very  important  committee,  placing  him  in  very 
confidential  intercourse  with  the  President,  and  had  attributed 
opinions  to  the  President  which  he  could  not  establish  when 
interrogated,  he  would  quit.  But  his  constituents  had  not  sent 
him  here  to  answer  questions  which  no  one  had  a  right  to  pro 
pound  to  him.  What  he  had  spoken,  he  had  written — no,  he 
had  written  it  before  he  had  spoken,  and  he  should  print  it. 

"  Mr.  Westcott.  1 1  call  the  senator  to  order.' 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood.  '  You  needn't  be  uneasy,  sir.  No  senator 
has  a  right  to  make  demands  upon  me  on  this  floor,  or  any 
where  else,  unless  I  give  him  reason.  I  would  do  almost  any 
thing  in  a  kind  way,  out  of  doors,  which  could  be  done  in 
reason  and  honor  ;  and  I  confess  I  do  a  great  many  things  that 
I  look  on  as  humiliating  after  they  are  done,  rather  than  have 
discord  in  the  Democratic  party.  I  do  not  recognize  the  right 
of  any  one  to  make  demands  on  me  when  I  have  submitted  to 
the  Senate  what  I  had  to  say,  what  I  wrote  before  I  said  it, 
and  what  I  shall  print  afterward.' 

VOL.  I.— I 


130  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS.' 

"  Mr.  Allen.  *  I  do  not  demand  an  answer  as  any  personal 
right  at  all.  I  demand  it  as  a  public  right.  When  a  senator 
assumes  to  speak  for  the  President,  every  senator  possesses  a 
public  right  to  demand  his  authority  for  so  doing.  An  avowal 
has  been  made  that  he  is  the  exponent  of  the  views  of  the  Pres 
ident  upon  a  great  national  question.  He  has  assumed  to  be 
that  exponent.  And  I  ask  him  whether  he  has  the  authority 
of  the  President  for  the  assumption  ?' 

"  Mr.  Westcott.  '  I  call  the  honorable  senator  from  Ohio  to 
order.  I  object  to  the  President's  personal  opinions  or  purposes 
being  made  the  subject  of  inquiry  on  the  floor.' 

"  Mr.  Allen  and  Mr.  Hannegan  rose  simultaneously. 

"  Mr.  Hannegan  yielded,  observing  that  he  was  not  so  anx 
ious  to  speak  but  that  he  could  yield  the  floor  to  any  body. 

"  Mr.  Allen.  *  I  have  not  asked  what  the  opinions  of  the  Pres 
ident  are/ 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood.  '  Will  the  senator  allow  me  to  interrupt  him 
for  one  moment  ?  I  am  not  at  all  excited— -not  at  all.  I  do  not 
see  any  catechism  in  the  rules  of  order.  I  deny  the  right  of 
any  senator  to  put  questions  to  me  in  this  way.  I  have  not 
assumed  to  speak  by  authority  of  the  President.' 

"  Mr.  Allen.  '  Then  the  senator  takes  back  his  speech  ?' 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood.  '  Not  at  all ;  but  I  am  glad  to  see  that  my 
speech  takes.' 

"  Mr.  Allen.  <  With  the  British.' 

"  Mr.  Hannegan.  '  Well,  the  senator  from  North  Carolina 
has  not  suffered  his  speech  to  get  into  print  this  morning,  so  as 
to  give  a  fair  opportunity  of  replying.  All  sketches  even  of  his 
speech  have  been,  by  his  "  special  request,"  withheld  in  the 
papers.' 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood  replied,  that,  as  he  had  taken  a  very  im 
portant  and  responsible  position,  he  wished  to  avoid  the  possi 
bility  of  misconstruction,  and  therefore  desired  to  report  his 
speech  himself.  For  fear  of  mistake,  he  had  taken  that  course  ; 
and  he  thought  he  was  justified  in  it  by  the  fact  that  one  of 
the  papers  (the  Times)  had  really  been  quite  unable  to  make 
out  the  drift  of  his  remarks  yesterday,  and  had  positively  set 
him  down  as  making  a  long  speech  in  favor  of  settling  the  ques 
tion  by  arbitration. 

"  Mr.  Hannegan.  1 1  do  not  deem  it  material  whether  the 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  131 

senator  from  North  Carolina  gives  a  direct  answer  to  my  ques 
tion  or  not.  It  is  entirely  immaterial.  He  assumes — no,  he 
says  there  is  no  assumption  about  it — that  there  is  no  meaning 
in  language,  no  truth  in  man,  if  the  President  any  where  com 
mits  himself  to  54°  4CK,  as  his  flattering  friends  assume  for 
him.  Now,  sir,  there  is  no  truth  in  man,  there  is  no  meaning 
in  language,  if  the  President  is  not  committed  to  54°  40',  in  as 
strong  language  as  that  which  makes  up  the  Holy  Book.  From 
a  period  antecedent  to  that  in  which  he  became  the  nominee  of 
the  Baltimore  Convention,  down  to  this  moment,  to  all  the 
world  he  stands  committed  for  54°  40'.  I  go  back  to  his  dec 
laration  made  in  1844  to  a  committee  of  citizens  of  Cincinnati, 
who  addressed  him  in  relation  to  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and 
he  there  uses  this  language,  being  then  before  the  country  as 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  the  chair  which  he  now  fills.' 

"  Mr.  Crittenden.  '  What  is  the  date  T 

"  Mr.  Hannegan.  '  It  is  dated  the  23d  of  April.' 

"  [Mr.  Hannegan  here  read  an  extract  from  Mr.  Polk's  letter 
to  the  committee  of  the  citizens  of  Cincinnati.] 

"  *  Here,'  Mr.  Hannegan  continued.  '  Mr.  Polk  expressed  the 
opinion  that  the  Union  ought  never  to  have  been  "  dismembered" 
by  the  separation  of  Texas.  Did  the  speech  of  the  senator  from 
North  Carolina  sustain  the  principle  of  this  declaration  ?  Let 
the  world  judge.' 

"  [Mr.  Hannegan  went  on  to  read  another  extract,  where  it 
was  declared  we  ought  to  assert  and  hold  our  right  of  dominion 
over  the  whole  territory  of  the  republic.] 

" '  Who,  then,'  asked  Mr.  Hannegan,  '  defines  the  limits  of 
Oregon  ?  Has  not  the  President  himself  defined  them  in  his 
message  ?' 

"  Mr.  Hannegan  then  quoted  from  the  President's  Message 
the  following  paragraph : 

"  (  The  extraordinary  and  wholly  inadmissible  demands  of  the 
British  government,  and  the  rejection  of  the  proposition  made 
in  deference  alone  to  what  had  been  done  by  my  predecessors, 
and  the  implied  obligation  which  their  acts  seemed  to  impose, 
afford  satisfactory  evidence  that  no  compromise  which  the 
United  States  ought  to  accept,  can  be  effected.  With  this  con 
viction,  the  proposition  of  compromise  which  had  been  made 
and  rejected  was,  by  my  direction,  subsequently  withdrawn, 


132  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

and  our  title  to  the  whole  Oregon  Territory  asserted,  and,  as  is 
believed,  maintained  by  irrefragable  facts  and  arguments." 

"  '  What,'  continued  Mr.  Hannegan, '  does  the  President  here 
claim  ?  Up  to  54°  40',  every  inch  of  it.  He  has  asserted  that 
claim,  and  is,  as  he  says,  sustained  "  by  irrefragable  facts  and 
arguments."  But  this  is  not  all.  I  hold  that  the  language  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  is  the  language  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States ;  and  has  not  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  his  last  communication 
to  Mr.  Pakenham,  named  54°  40'  in  so  many  words  ?  He  has. 
The  President  adopts  this  language  as  his  own.  He  plants 
himself  on  54P  40'.  I  well  remember  that  the  President  was 
the  choice  neither  of  myself,  nor — I  beg  his  pardon,  I  should 
have  named  the  senator  first — neither  of  the  senator  from  North 
Carolina  nor  of  myself.  Neither  of  us  preferred  him.  Both  of 
us  had  another  choice.  And  I  must  confess  I  am  most  happy 
to  see  that,  since  his  election,  he  has  grown  so  much  in  favor 
with  my  friend  from  North  Carolina  as  to  induce  him  to  come 
here  with  a  valorous  defense  against  attacks  never  made — never 
made,  sir.  But  this  I  will  say — and  make  it  an  attack,  if  you 
please — if  the  President  has  betrayed  that  standard  which  the 
Baltimore  Convention  put  into  his  hands,  and  whereby  he  com 
mitted  himself  to  the  country,  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  I 
will  not  do,  as  the  senator  from  North  Carolina  threatens,  turn 
my  back  upon  him — I  suppose  he  cares  little  whether  both  of 
us  do  that — but  I  shall  hold  him  recreant  to  the  principles 
which  he  professed,  recreant  to  the  trust  which  he  accepted, 
recreant  to  the  generous  confidence  which  a  majority  of  the 
people  reposed  in  him.  I  shall  not  abandon  the  principles  of 
the  Democratic  party.  I  shall  not  abate  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the 
principles  we  gave  to  the  country  then ;  I  shall  sustain  them ; 
but  I  shall  hold  and  exercise  the  privilege  of  speaking  of  him  in 
the  language  of  truth  and  fearlessness.  The  senator  from  North 
Carolina  attempted  to  speak  of  the  resolution  of  the  Baltimore 
Convention.  I  ask  him  if  he  seriously  meant  his  statement  of 
it  as  a  fair  exhibition  of  its  substance.  If  so,  it  was  unworthy 
of  the  senator  to — ' 

"  Mr.  Hay  wood.  *  I  took  the  resolution  from  Mr.  Breese's 
speech — the  only  place,  I  believe,  I  ever  saw  it.  Here  it  is : 

"  <  Resolved,  That  our  title  to  the  whole  of  the  Territory  of 
Oregon  is  clear  and  unquestionable ;  that  no  portion  of  the  same 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUOLAS.  133 

ought  to  be  ceded  to  England  or  any  other  power ;  and  that 
the  reoccupation  of  Oregon,  and  the  reannexation  of  Texas  at 
the  earliest  practicable  period,  are  great  American  measures, 
which  the  Convention  recommends  to  the  cordial  support  of  the 
democracy  of  the  Union.' 

"  Mr.  Hannegan.  i  There  is  a  great  deal  of  difference  between 
that  and  the  statement  of  it  given  by  the  senator.  The  Dem 
ocratic  party  is  thus  bound  to  the  whole  of  Oregon — every  foot 
of  it ;  and  let  the  senator  rise  in  his  place  who  will  tell  me  in 
what  quarter  of  this  Union- — in  what  assembly  of  Democrats 
in  this  Union,  pending  the  presidential  election,  the  names  of 
Texas  and  Oregon  did  not  fly  together,  side  by  side,  on  the 
Democratic  banners.  Every  where  they  were  twins — every 
where  they  were  united.  Does  the  senator  from  North  Caro 
lina  suppose  that  he,  with  his  appeals  to  the  democracy,  can 
blind  our  eyes,  as  he  thinks  he  tickled  our  ears  ?  He  is  mis 
taken.  "  Texas  and  Oregon"  can  not  be  divided;  they  dwell 
together  in  the  American  heart.  Even  in  Texas,  I  have  been 
told,  the  flag  of  the  lone  star  had  inscribed  oh  it  the  name  of 
Oregon.  Then  it  was  all  Oregon.  Now,  when  you  have  got 
Texas,  it  means  just  so  much  of  Oregon  as  you  in  your  kind 
ness  and  condescension  think  proper  to  give  us.  You  little 
know  us  if  you  think  the  mighty  West  will  be  trodden  on  in 
this  way.  Let  gentlemen  look  at  their  own  recorded  votes  in 
favor  of  taking  up  the  Oregon  Bill  at  the  close  of  the  last  ses 
sion,  and  then  let  them  look  at  the  language  of  that  bill,  and 
see  if  it  did  not  propose  to  take  possession  of  Oregon  up  to  54° 
40',  after  giving  unqualified  notice  to  Great  Britain  that  the 
convention  must  cease.  At  that  time  we  still  held  Texas  in 
our  hands ;  and  this  was  a  test  question ;  and  every  man  in 
the  Senate  voted  for  it  save  the  senator  who  sat  there  (under 
stood  to  refer  to  Mr.  M'Duffie)  and  the  peerless  Huger.  And 
that  most  excellent  senator  (Huger)  had  afterward  told  him 
that  he  had  voted  in  the  negative  because  it  was  suggested  to 
him  that,  unless  he  did  so,  the  Civil  and  Diplomatic  Bill  would 
fail  which  was  then  pending ;  but,  on  further  conversation  and 
consideration,  he  wished  to  move  a  reconsideration  of  the  vote, 
but  his  friends  would  not  consent  that  it  should  be  done.  In 
the  House  of  Representatives  but  four  out  of  fifty  Southern 
Democrats  had  voted  against  the  bill.  These  were  the  reasons 


134  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

given  to  him  why  he  should  not  distrust  the  South  on  the  ques 
tion  of  Oregon ;  the  results  were  now  manifesting  themselves ; 
and  let  the  speech  just  concluded  by  the  senator  from  North 
Carolina  show  whether  or  not  he  was  justified  in  his  distrust. 

"  '  The  senator,  in  his  defense  of  the  President,  put  language 
into  his  mouth  which  I  undertake  to  say  the  President  will  re 
pudiate,  and  I  am  not  the  President's  champion.  I  wish  not 
to  be  his  champion.  I  would  not  be  the  champion  of  power. 
I  defend  the  right,  and  the  right  only.  But,  for  the  President, 
I  deny  the  intentions  which  the  senator  from  North  Carolina 
attributes  to  him ;  intentions  which,  if  really  entertained  by 
him,  would  make  him  an  infamous  man— ay,  an  infamous  man. 
He  (Mr.  Haywood)  told  the  senator  yesterday — unless  I  gross 
ly  misunderstood  him,  along  with  several  friends  around  me — 
"  that  the  President  had  occasionally  stickings-in,  parenthetical 
ly,  to  gratify — what  ?  the  ultraisms  of  the  country  and  of  party, 
while  he  reposed  in  the  White  House,  with  no  intentions  of  car 
rying  out  these  parenthetical  stickings-in,"  In  plain  words,  he 
represents  the  President  as  parenthetically  sticking  in  a  few 
hollow  and  false  words  to  cajole  the  "  ultraisms  of  the  country." 
What  is  this,  need  I  ask,  but  charging  upon  the  President  con 
duct  most  vile  and  infamous  ?  If  this  allegation  be  true,  these 
intentions  of  the  President  must  sooner  or  later  come  to  light ; 
and  when  brought  to  light,  what  must  follow  but  irretrievable 
disgrace  ?  So  long  as  one  human  eye  remains  to  linger  on  the 
page  of  history,  the  story  of  his  abasement  will  be  read,  send 
ing  him  and  his  name  together  to  an  infamy  so  profound,  a 
damnation  so  deep,  that  the  hand  of  resurrection  will  never  be 
able  to  drag  him  forth.  He  who  is  the  traitor  to  his  country 
can  never  have  forgiveness  of  God,  and  can  not  ask  mercy  of 
man.  I  asked  the  senator  whether  he  came  here  charged  with 
missives  from  the  President,  or  whether  he  assumed  the  dog 
matic  style  on  his  own  responsibility,  and — ' 

"  Mr.  Mangum.  *  I  call  the  senator  to  order.  I  protest  against 
these  remarks.' 

"  Mr.  Haywood.  *  Let  him  proceed.' 

"  Mr.  Mangum.  '  I  withdraw  my  objection.' 

"  Mr.  Hannegan.  l  Let  me  say  one  thing  to  the  senator  from 
North  Carolina  over  the  way  (Mr.  Mangum),  that  if  I  have  ut 
tered  one  syllable  disrespectful  to  the  senator,  it  has  not  been 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  135 

my  intention.  If  he  apprehended  that  I  was  in  danger  of  say 
ing  any  thing  disrespectful,  I  thank  him  for  his  kind  hint.  I 
shall  not  forget  the  place  where  I  am,  and  the  respect  which 
I  owe  myself.  I  reply  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  the  senator 
spoke.  I  have  no  personal  motives ;  I  am  speaking  to  princi 
ples,  and  using,  as  he  did,  plain  language.  We  were  told  that 
this  question  was  agitated  in  the  country  for  the  purpose  of 
putting  small  men  into  large  offices.  I  have  seen  small  men 
in  large  offices  before  to-day.  "  Small  men  in  large  offices !" 
"  The  country  agitated  to  put  small  men  in  large  offices !" 
Those  who  live  in  glass  houses  should  not  throw  stones.  The 
problem  is  somewhat  stale,  but  it  is  a  salutary  one,  and  even 
some  great  men  may  occasionally  be  reminded  of  it  to  their 
profit.  Let  me  tell  the  senator  from  North  Carolina  that,  for 
my  own  part,  I  would  much  sooner  be  found  a  small  man  seek 
ing  a  high  place,  than  the  subservient,  pliant,  supple  tool — the 
cringing  flatterer,  the  fawning  sycophant,  who  crouches  before 
power,  and  hurries  from  its  back  stairs  to  bring  before  the  Sen 
ate  its  becks,  and  nods,  and  wreathed  smiles.  The  last  steam 
er  from  Europe,  it  is  said,  puts  this  question  in  such  a  position 
that  for  Oregon  we  can  get  free  trade.  Free  trade  I  love  dear 
ly,  but  never  will  it  be  bought  by  me  by  the  territory  of  my 
country.  He  who  would  entertain  such  an  idea  is  a  traitor  to 
his  country.  I  speak  for  myself,  and  my  own  section  of  the 
country.  Free  trade  for  a  surrender  of  the  ports  and  harbors 
on  the  Pacific  ?  Never,  sir,  never.  Whence  this  movement 
for  free  trade  on  the  part  of  England?  Does  not  every  one 
know  that  she  has  been  driven  into  this  course  by  the  outcries 
of  starving  millions  ?  that  she  has  been  forced  into  this  policy 
by  the  land-owners,  to  save  their  lives  from  the  knife  of  the 
midnight  assassin,  and  their  palaces  from  the  torch  of  the 
prowling  incendiary  ?  But  the  West  is  to  be  provided  for  ;  it 
is  to  have  a  new  and  most  profitable  market.  Some  of  us 
know  that  from  the  Baltic  England  would  get  her  wheat  long 
before  we  could  send  a  ton  into  her  market.  I  advert  to  this 
simply  because  I  do  not  know  that  I  shall  have  another  oppor 
tunity  to  do  so.  I  have  only  to  add,  that  so  far  as  the  whole 
tone,  spirit,  and  meaning  of  the  remarks  of  the  senator  from 
North  Carolina  are  concerned,  if  they  speak  the  language  of 
James  K.  Polk,  James  K.  Polk  has  spoken  words  of  falsehood, 
and  with  the  tongue  of  a  serpent.' " 


136  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

Such  were  some  of  the  consequences  resulting  from  the  ab 
sence  of  definite  knowledge,  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  as  to 
the  course  and  intentions  of  the  President.  His  own  friends 
in  Congress — those  who  were  presumed,  from  political  sympa 
thy  or  official  station,  to  be  in  possession  of  his  purposes — were 
permitted  but  darkly  to  glance  at  them  through  the  mist  in 
which  they  were  enveloped.  To  us  and  to  our  readers,  how 
ever,  it  is  permitted,  by  means  of  the  correspondence  which  has 
since  been  transmitted  to  the  Senate  in  executive  session,  and 
from  which  the  injunction  of  secrecy  has  been  removed,  to  look 
face  to  face  upon  things  which  were  then  so  dimly  seen.  The 
correspondence,  for  state  reasons,  was  communicated  with  some 
drawback  in  the  form  of  asterisks,  but  is  sufficiently  full  for 
all  objects  of  elucidation. 

The  "  notice"  reached  the  Senate  on  the  10th  of  February, 
1846,  where  it  remained  under  consideration  until  the  16th  of 
April. 

On  the  13th  of  the  previous  December  (1845),  some  two 
weeks  after  Congress  had  assembled,  Mr.  Buchanan  thus  writes 
to  Mr.  M'Lane,  then  minister  at  the  court  of  St.  James : 

"  You  will  receive  by  the  Cambria  a  copy  of  the  President's 
Message,  and  the  documents  accompanying  it,  in  relation  to 
Texas  and  Oregon.  These  are  all  which  have  yet  been  printed. 

"  You  will  observe,  that  while  the  President  has  recommend 
ed  that  the  necessary  notice  shall  be  given  to  abrogate  the  con 
vention,  he  has  carefully  avoided  to  recommend  any  legislative 
measure  which  could,  in  the  mean  time,  conflict  with  its  pro 
visions;  and  it  is  not  apprehended  that  Congress  will  adopt 
any  such  measure. 

"  The  message  has  been  well  received  throughout  the  coun 
try,  and  its  doctrines  generally  will,  I  think,  meet  the  approba 
tion  of  Congress. 

"  The  President  sincerely  desires  to  preserve  our  friendly  re 
lations  with  Great  Britain.  His  policy  with  that  and  all  other 
nations  is  peace,  so  long  as  this  can  be  maintained  consistently 
with  the  national  rights  and  honor.  The  Oregon  Question  is 
now  approaching  a  crisis.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  the  Brit 
ish  government  will  suffer  it  to  remain  upon  its  present  basis  ; 
and  it  is  clear  that  if  there  should  be  any  new  movement  to 
ward  its  adjustment,  this  must  originate  with  Great  Britain. 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  137 

Should  that  government  take  any  further  step  with  a  view  to 
settle  the  controversy,  the  President  would  judge  of  the  charac 
ter  of  the  proposition  when  made  ;  and  if,  in  his  opinion,  it  should 
be  such  as  to  justify  this,  he  would  feel  inclined  to  submit  it  to 
the  Senate  for  their  previous  advice  before  taking  any  other  ac 
tion  upon  it.  As  the  determination  on  any  such  proposition 
might  involve  the  issue  of  peace  or  war  between  the  two  coun 
tries,  he  would  feel  it  to  be  his  duty  to  consult  his  constitution 
al  advisers  before  a  final  decision.  I  deem  it  necessary  to  give 
you  this  information,  not  that  you  may  make  any  such  sug 
gestion  to  the  British  government,  but  to  enable  you  to  regu 
late  wisely  your  conversation  and  conduct  in  the  critical  posi 
tion  in  which  you  are  now  placed.  What  the  result  might  be 
in  the  Senate,  I  can  not  anticipate." 

On  the  29th  of  the  same  month,  Mr.  Buchanan  again  writes 
to  Mr.  M'Lane : 

"  You  were  correct  in  supposing  that  the  British  government 
would  again  offer  to  refer  the  Oregon  Question  to  some  friendly 
power.  On  Saturday  last  Mr.  Pakenham  delivered  me  a  com 
munication  making  an  offer  to  refer  this  question,  of  which  I 
transmit  you  a  copy.  You  will  not  fail  to  observe  that  he  does 
not  propose  a  reference  of  the  title  to  the  whole  question  [ter 
ritory],  but  merely  the  subject  of  an  '  equitable  division'  of  it 
between  the  parties.  It  is  strange  that  such  a  proposition 
should  have  been  submitted  by  the  British  government,  in  the 
face  of  the  President's  claim  to  the  whole  territory,  after  it  had 
been  so  recently  enforced  in  the  most  solemn  manner  by  my 
letter  of  the  30th  of  August  last,  withdrawing  our  proposition 
for  a  compromise  by  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude.  To 
accept  the  proposition  under  such  circumstances  would  be  for 
the  President  to  admit  that  he  had  committed  an  error  in  as 
serting  the  American  title  to  the  whole  territory,  and  to  ac 
knowledge,  in  the  very  submission  of  the  question  to  the  arbi 
trator,  that  Great  Britain  had  a  right  to  a  portion  of  it,  and 
that  his  functions  should  be  confined  to  an  l  equitable  division' 
of  it  between  the  parties.  In  this  respect,  the  present  proposi 
tion  is  unlike  the  former  offer  of  the  British  government,  which 
was  a  general  proposition  to  arbitrate.  If  no  other  reason  ex 
isted  for  declining  the  proposition,  this  would  be  deemed  suffi 
cient  by  the  President.  You  may  therefore  consider  it  certain 


138  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

that  it  will  be  rejected.  I  presume  that  the  British  govern 
ment  could  not  have  anticipated  a  different  result ;  and,  from 
my  conversation  upon  the  subject  with  Mr.  Pakenham  on  Sat 
urday  last,  he  will  doubtless  undeceive  them,  if  they  had  any 
expectation  that  his  offer  would  be  accepted." 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1846,  Mr.  Buchanan  writes  to  Mr. 
M'Lane  as  follows : 

"  The  President  will  never  abandon  the  position  he  has  taken 
in  his  message.  Clearly  convinced  of  the  right  of  the  United 
States  to  the  whole  territory  in  dispute,  and  relieved,  by  the 
refusal  of  the  British  government  to  accept  his  offer  of  com 
promise,  from  the  embarrassment  in  which  the  acts  of  his  pre 
decessors  had  placed  him,  he  would  not  now  authorize  the  con 
clusion  of  a  treaty  on  that  basis.  But  the  Senate,  his  consti 
tutional  advisers,  are  now  in  session.  The  question  of  peace 
or  war  may  be  involved  in  the  issue.  They  are  a  branch  of 
the  war-making  as  well  as  of  the  treaty-making  power.  In 
deference  to  the  Senate,  under  these  circumstances,  he  would, 
in  the  first  instance,  feel  it  to  be  his  duty  to  submit  such  a 
proposition  for  their  previous  advice.  It  is  manifest,  therefore, 
that  the  British  government  should  at  once  present  their  ulti 
matum.  If  Mr.  Pakenham  should  offer  less,  in  the  hope  that, 
having  thus  recommenced  the  negotiation,  he  might,  in  its 
progress,  induce  me  to  say  what  the  President  would  consent 
to  accept,  he  must  be  disappointed.  The  President  will  accept 
nothing  less  than  the  whole  territory,  unless  the  Senate  should 
otherwise  determine.  The  only  question  which  he  will  decide 
is,  whether  the  new  proposition,  should  any  such  be  made,  be 
of  a  character  to  justify  its  submission  to  the  Senate  for  their 
previous  advice. 

"  Under  all  the  circumstances  by  which  you  may  be  sur 
rounded,  it  is  left  to  your  sound  discretion  whether  any  such 
communication  or  intimation  shall  be  made  to  Lord  Aberdeen." 

On  the  3d  of  February,  1846,  Mr.  M'Lane  thus  writes  to 
Mr.  Buchanan : 

«  SIR) — Notwithstanding  these  difficulties,  I  still  entertain 
the  opinion  that  it  would  be  in  my  power,  without  any  improp 
er  commitment  of  the  President,  to  lead  to  a  renewal  of  the 
negotiation  by  this  government,  and  to  the  submission,  unless 
another  mode  would  be  more  desirable,  through  its  minister  at 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  139 

Washington,  of  a  proposition,  adopting  that  directed  by  the 
President  on  the  12th  of  July  last,  with  some  modifications, 
not  inconsistent,  according  to  the  sense  I  entertain  of  it,  with 
our  national  honor.  Of  this  I  should  feel  quite  certain  if  I 
could  officially  know  that  the  proposition  would  probably  be 
acceptable  at  Washington ;  and  I  should  attempt  it  'informally, 
and  upon  my  individual  responsibility,  with  scarcely  less  con 
fidence  of  success,  if,  while  acting  in  that  way,  I  could  encour 
age  a  like  result. 

"  It  is  due,  however,  to  my  own  position,  and  to  those  with 
whom  I  am  brought  into  intercourse  upon  this  subject,  to  state, 
that  the  opinions  I  have  thus  expressed  are  not  founded  upon 
any  direct  communication  from  those  in  official  station,  but 
are  rather  the  result  of  a  series  of  facts  and  inferences,  entitled, 
however,  in  my  judgment  at  least,  to  not  less  weight. 

"  After  these  observations,  I  owe  it  more  particularly  to  my 
self  to  state  that,  believing,  from  the  history  of  our  previous  ne 
gotiations  as  to  the  Oregon  Question,  that  it  may  now  be  set 
tled  upon  the  basis  of  compromise,  and  with  reference  to  inter 
ests  which  have  grown  up  during  the  joint  occupation  of  the 
territory,  without  a  violation  of  any  duty  which  a  public  man 
owes  to  the  rights  and  honor  of  his  country,  I  would  not  be  un 
willing,  taking  the  President's  proposition  of  the  12th  of  July 
as  a  basis,  to  urge  a  final  adjustment  of  the  question  according 
to  that  proposition,  but  conceding  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany  a  continuance  of  the  privilege  of  joint  occupation,  includ 
ing  the  navigation  of  the  Columbia,  for  a  period  of  seven  or  ten 
years  longer  ;  and  I  hope  I  may  be  allowed  to  add,  that  I  would 
be  willing  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  assenting  to  an  ad 
justment  by  extending  the  boundary  to  the  Pacific  by  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  and  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  with  free  ports  to  both 
nations ;  or  by  extending  the  free  navigation  of  the  Columbia 
River  for  a  longer  period,  provided  similar  advantages  upon  the 
St.  Lawrence  could  thereby  be  secured  to  the  United  States. 

"I  believe  that  upon  one  of  these  grounds,  perhaps  upon 
either,  an  adjustment  may  be  concluded ;  and  I  have  a  strong 
conviction  that  the  mode  first  indicated  is  entirely  practicable. 

"  I  am,  however,  constrained  at  the  same  time  to  state,  from 
all  that  has  come  to  my  knowledge  here,  that  I  have  no  reason 
to  believe  that  more  favorable  terms  than  those  I  have  above 


140  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

adverted  to  would,  under  any  circumstances,  be  consented  to 
by  this  government." 

Under  date  of  February  26th,  1846,  Mr.  Buchanan,  writing 
to  Mr.  M'Lane,  says : 

"  It  appears  that  in  your  interview  with  the  Earl  of  Aber 
deen,  on  the  29th  ultimo,  his  lordship  complained  of  the  terms 
and  manner  in  which  I  had  declined  to  accept  Mr.  Pakenham's 
first  proposition  to  arbitrate ;  and  *  apprehended  that,  from  the 
nature  of  the  answer,  and  the  character  of  the  recent  debate  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  it  would  be  difficult  to  prevent 
the  conclusion  that  the  President  had  determined  to  discourage 
any  new  proposition  on  the  basis  of  compromise,  and  to  concede 
nothing  of  the  extreme  demand.' 

"  The  view  of  the  subject  presented  by  you  to  his  lordship  is 
the  correct  one.  My  answer  was  not  intended  either  to  encour 
age  or  to  discourage  a  renewal  of  the  negotiation.  The  Pres 
ident  has  at  all  times  been  prepared  to  receive  and  to  treat  with 
the  utmost  respect  any  proposal  for  a  compromise  which  might 
emanate  from  the  British  government.  While  he  has  not 
deemed  it  proper  to  invite  such  a  proposal,  he  has  ever  mani 
fested  an  anxious  desire  to  preserve  amicable  relations  with 
Great  Britain.  To  accomplish  this  purpose,  he  would  sacrifice 
every  consideration  except  the  national  rights  and  the  national 
honor.  Lord  Aberdeen  has  drawn  an  inference  from  my  lan 
guage,  of  which  it  is  not,  in  my  opinion,  fairly  susceptible.  Of 
this  he  will  be  fully  sensible  upon  perusing  the  concluding  par 
agraph  of  my  answer  to  the  second  proposal  of  Mr.  Pakenham 
for  arbitration.  It  is  there  declared  that  'the  President  cor 
dially  concurs  with  the  government  of  Great  Britain  in  desiring 
that  the  present  controversy  may  be  amicably  adjusted.  Of 
this  he  has  given  the  strongest  proof  before  the  whole  world. 
He  believes  that,  as  there  are  no  two  nations  on  the  earth  more 
closely  bound  together  by  the  ties  of  commerce,  so  there  are 
none  who  ought  to  be  more  able  or  willing  to  do  each  other  jus 
tice,  without  the  interposition  of  any  arbiter.' 

********* 

"You  strongly  express  the  opinion,  notwithstanding  the  ex 
isting  difficulties,  '  that  it  would  be  in  my  [your]  power,  with 
out  any  improper  commitment  of  the  President,  to  lead  to  a  re 
newal  of  negotiation  by  this  [the  British]  government,  and  to 


STEPHEN    ARNOLD    DOUGLAS.  141 

the  submission,  unless  another  mode  would  be  more  desirable, 
through  its  minister  at  Washington,  of  a  proposition  adopting 
that  directed  by  the  President  on  the  12th  of  July  last,  with 
some  modifications,  not  inconsistent,  according  to  the  sense  I 
[you]  entertain  of  it,  with  our  national  honor.  Of  this  I  [you] 
should  feel  quite  certain,  if  I  [you]  could  officially  know  that 
the  proposition  would  probably  be  acceptable  at  Washington.'  J 

"  The  concluding  paragraph  of  my  dispatch  to  you  of  the  29th 
ultimo  [No.  22],  which  you  will  have  received  shortly  after 
making  this  suggestion,  is  perhaps  sufficient  to  indicate  the 
course  which  the  President  would  pursue,  in  case  such  an  offer 
should  be  made  through  the  British  minister  at  Washington. 

"  The  President,  since  the  date  of  his  message,  has  seen  no 
cause  to  change  his  opinion  either  in  regard  to  our  title  to  Ore 
gon,  or  to  the  manner  in  which  it  ought  to  be  asserted.  But 
the  Federal  Constitution  has  made  the  Senate,  to  a  certain  ex 
tent,  a  co-ordinate  branch  of  the  treaty-making  power.  With 
out  their  advice  and  consent  no  treaty  can  be  concluded.  This 
power  could  not  be  intrusted  to  wiser  or  better  hands.  Besides, 
in  their  legislative  character  they  constitute  a  portion  of  the 
war-making,  as  in  their  executive  capacity  they  compose  a  part 
of  the  treaty-making  power.  They  are  the  representatives  of 
the  sovereign  states  of  this  Union,  and  are  regarded  as  the  best 
index  of  the  opinion  of  their  constituents.  A  rejection  of  the 
British  ultimatum  might  probably  lead  to  war ;  and,  as  a  branch 
of  the  legislative  power,  it  would  be  incumbent  upon  them  to 
authorize  the  necessary  preparations  to  render  this  war  success 
ful.  Under  these  considerations,  the  President,  in  deference  to 
the  Senate,  and  to  the  true  theory  of  the  constitutional  respon 
sibilities  of  the  different  branches  of  the  government,  will  forego 
his  own  opinions,  so  far  as  to  submit  to  that  body  any  proposi 
tion  which  may  be  made  by  the  British  government,  not,  in  his 
judgment,  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  rights  and  honor  of  the 
country.  Nor  is  the  fact  to  be  disguised,  that,  from  the  speeches 
and  proceedings  in  the  Senate,  it  is  probable  that  a  proposition 
to  adjust  the  Oregon  Question  on  the  parallel  of  forty-nine  de 
grees  would  receive  their  favorable  consideration." 

Such  are  the  material  points  of  the  correspondence  which  was 
taking  place  while  the  "  notice"  was  pending  in  the  two  houses, 
and  which  make  perfectly  intelligible  many  things  not  then 
understood. 


142  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

At  length,  on  the  16th  of  April,  as  we  have  stated,  the  joint 
resolution  of  notice  was  passed  by  the  Senate,  but  not  in  the 
form  in  which  it  went  forth  from  the  House.  A  substitute,  pro 
posed  by  Mr.  Reverdy  Johnson,  of  Maryland,  embodying  the 
substance  of  a  proposition  originally  offered  by  Mr.  Crittenden, 
of  Kentucky,  took  the  place  of  the  resolution  of  the  House,  and 
was  in  the  following  words  : 

"Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
by  the  convention  concluded  the  twentieth  day  of  October,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen,  between  the  United  States 
of  America  and  the  King  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Brit 
ain  and  Ireland,  for  the  period  of  ten  years,  and  afterward  in 
definitely  extended  arid  continued  in  force  by  another  conven 
tion  of  the  same  parties,  concluded  the  sixth  day  of  August,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven,  it  was  agreed  that  any  country  that  may  be  claimed  by 
either  party  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  westward  of 
the  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains,  now  commonly  called  the  Or 
egon  Territory,  should,  together  with  its  harbors,  bays,  and 
creeks,  and  the  navigation  of  all  rivers  within  the  same,  be 
'  free  and  open'  to  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects  of  the  two 
powers,  but  without  prejudice  to  any  claim  which  either  of  the 
parties  might  have  to  any  part  of  said  country  ;  and  with  this 
further  provision  in  the  second  article  of  the  said  convention  of 
the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven,  that  either  party  might  abrogate  and  annul  said  conven 
tion,  on  giving  due  notice  of  twelve  months  to  the  other  con 
tracting  party ;  that  it  has  now  become  desirable  that  the  re 
spective  claims  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  should 
be  definitely  settled;  and  that  said  territory  may  no  longer 
than  need  be  remain  subject  to  the  evil  consequences  of  the  di 
vided  allegiance  of  its  American  and  British  population,  and  of 
the  confusion  and  conflict  of  national  jurisdictions,  dangerous 
to  the  cherished  peace  and  good  understanding  of  the  two  coun 
tries.  And,  therefore,  that  steps  be  taken  for  the  abrogation 
of  the  said  convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  in  the  mode  prescribed  in  its 
second  article,  and  that  the  attention  of  the  government  of  both 
countries  may  be  the  more  earnestly  and  immediately  directed 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  143 

to  renewed  efforts  for  the  amicable  settlement  of  all  their  dif 
ferences  and  disputes  in  respect  to  said  territory. 

"And  be  it  further  resolved^  That  the  President  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  at  his  discretion,  to 
give  to  the  British  government  the  notice  required  by  its  said 
second  article  for  the  abrogation  of  the  said  convention  of  the 
sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven." 

The  vote  on  the  engrossment  of  this  substitute  resolution 
was  as  follows : 

Yeas:  Messrs.  Archer,  Ashley , t Atherton,  Bagley,  Barrow, 
Benton,  Berrien,  Calhoun,  Cameron,  Chalmers,  John  M.  Clay 
ton,  Corwin,  Crittenden,  Davis,  Dayton,  Dix,  Greene,  Hay- 
wood,  Houston,  Huntington,  Jarnegan,  Johnson  of  Maryland, 
Johnson  of  Louisiana,  Lewis,  M'Duffie,  Mangum,  Miller, 
Morehead,  Niles,  Pearce,  Pennybacker,  Phelps,  Rusk,  Sevier, 
Simmons,  Speight,  Turney,  Upham,  Webster,  and  Woodbridge 
—40. 

Nays :  Messrs.  Allen,  Atchison,  Breese,  Bright,  Cass,  Thomas 
Clayton,  Dickinson,  Evans,  Fairfield,  Hannegan,  Jenness,  Sem- 
ple,  Sturgeon,  and  Westcott — 14. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  a  disagreement  existed  between  the  two 
houses  as  to  the  form  in  which  the  object  designed  to  be  ac 
complished  should  be  effected.  The  parliamentary  processes 
usual  in  such  cases  were  called  into  requisition,  and  the  follow 
ing  joint  resolution  was  finally  agreed  upon : 

"  Whereas,  by  the  convention  concluded  the  twentieth  day 
of  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen,  between 
the  United  States  of  America  and  the  King  of  the  United  King 
doms  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  for  the  period  of  ten  years, 
and  afterward  indefinitely  extended  and  continued  in  force  by 
another  convention  of  the  same  parties,  concluded  the  sixth  day 
of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hund 
red  and  twenty-seven,  it  was  agreed  that  any  country  that  may 
be  claimed  by  either  party  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America, 
westward  of  the  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains,  now  commonly 
called  the  Oregon  Territory,  should,  together  with  its  harbors, 
bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  navigation  of  all  rivers  within  the 
same,  be  free  and  open  to  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects  of 
the  two  powers,  but  without  prejudice  to  any  claim  which 
either  of  the  parties  might  have  to  any  part  of  said  country ; 


144  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

and  with  .this  further  provision  in  the  second  article  of  the  said 
convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-seven,  that  either  party  might  abrogate  and  annul 
said  convention,  on  giving  the  notice  of  twelve  months  to  fhe 
other  contracting  party : 

"  And  whereas  it  has  now  become  desirable  that  the  respect 
ive  claims  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  should  be 
definitely  settled,  and  that  said  territory  may  no  longer  than 
need  be  remain  subject  to  the  evil  consequences  of  the  divided 
allegiance  of  its  American  and  British  population,  and  of  the 
confusion  and  conflict  of  national  jurisdiction,  dangerous  to  the 
cherished  peace  and  good  understanding  of  the  two  countries : 

"  With  a  view,  therefore,  that  steps  be  taken  for  the  abroga 
tion  of  the  said  convention  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  in  the  mode  prescribed  in  its 
second  article,  and  that  the  attention  of  the  governments  of 
both  countries  may  be  the  more  earnestly  directed  to  the  adop 
tion  of  all  proper  measures  for  a  speedy  and  amicable  adjust 
ment  of  the  differences  and  disputes  in  regard  to  the  said  ter 
ritory  : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled.  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby  author 
ized,  at  his  discretion,  to  give  to  the  government  of  Great  Brit 
ain  the  notice  required  by  the  second  article  of  the  said  conven 
tion  of  the  sixth  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
twenty-seven,  for  the  abrogation  of  the  same." 

Under  this  authority,  it  is  universally  known  that  the  Pres 
ident  promptly  caused  the  notice  of  the  termination  of  the  joint 
occupation  of  the  Oregon  Territory  to  be  given. 

Time  passed  on.  Rumors — doubtful  at  first,  and  indistinct — 
mysterious  givings  out  of  a  settlement  of  the  controversy,  gath 
ered  force  and  substance  day  by  day ;  and  at  last,  "  one  sunny 
morn" — the  10th  of  June — the  "  proposal,  in  the  form  of  a  con 
vention,  presented  to  the  Secretary  of  State  by  the  envoy  extra 
ordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  of  her  Britannic  majesty, 
for  the  adjustment  of  the  Oregon  Question,"  reached  the  Senate 
Chamber  ;  and  there,  solemnly  planted  on  the  parallel  of  forty- 
nine,  stood  the  high  contracting  parties ! 

The  spell  was  broken !  the  mystery  at  an  end !     The  light 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  145 

of  fifty-four  forty  was  gone  forever.  Prometheus  himself  could 
not  "  relume"  it.  The  crests  of  the  war-hawks  drooped.  The 
thick-coming  visions  of  that  warlike  policy,  which  ex-Senator 
Hay  wood  said  was  to  "  put  small  men  into  large  offices,"  faded 
away,  and  the  watchword  of  the  nation  was  PEACE  ! 

The  convention  was  signed  by  "  James  Buchanan"  and 
"  Richard  Pakenham."  The  President,  in  his  message  trans 
mitting  this  convention  to  the  Senate  (from  which,  with  the 
other  executive  correspondence,  proceedings,  and  documents  re 
lating  to  Oregon,  the  injunction  of  secrecy  was  removed),  said, 

"  I  submit  this  proposal  to  the  consideration  of  the  Senate, 
and  request  their  advice  as  to  the  action  which,  in  their  judg 
ment,  it  may  be  proper  to  take  in  reference  to,  it. 

"  In  the  early  periods  of  the  government,  the  opinion  and  ad 
vice  of  the  Senate  were  often  taken  in  advance  upon  important 
questions  of  our  foreign  policy.  General  Washington  repeat 
edly  consulted  the  Senate,  and  asked  their  previous  advice  upon 
pending  negotiations  with  foreign  powers ;  and  the  Senate,  in 
every  instance,  responded  to  his  call  by  giving  their  advice,  to 
which  he  always  conformed  his  action.  This  practice,  though 
rarely  resorted  to  in  latter  times,  was,  in  my  judgment,  eminent 
ly  wise,  and  may,  on  occasions  of  great  importance,  be  properly 
revived.  The  Senate  are  a  branch  of  the  treaty -making  power ; 
and,  by  consulting  them  in  advance  of  his  own  action  upon  im 
portant  measures  of  foreign  policy  which  may  ultimately  come 
before  them  for  their  consideration,  the  President  secures  har 
mony  of  action  between  that  body  and  himself.  The  Senate 
are,  moreover,  a  branch  of  the  war-making  power ;  and  it  may 
be  eminently  proper  for  the  executive  to  take  the  opinion  and  ad 
vice  of  that  body  in  advance  upon  any  great  question  which  may 
involve  in  its  decision  the  issue  of  peace  or  war.  On  the  pres 
ent  occasion,  the  magnitude  of  the  subject  would  induce  me,  un 
der  any  circumstances,  to  desire  the  previous  advice  of  the  Sen 
ate  ;  and  that  desire  is  increased  by  the  recent  debates  and  pro 
ceedings  in  Congress,  which  render  it,  in  my  judgment,  not  only 
respectful  to  the  Senate,  but  necessary  and  proper,  if  not  indis 
pensable,  to  insure  harmonious  action  between  that  body  and 
the  executive.  In  conferring  on  the  executive  the  authority  to 
give  the  notice  for  the  abrogation-  of  the  convention  of  1827, 
the  Senate  acted  publicly  so  large  a  part,  that  a  decision  on 

VOL.  I.— K 


146  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  proposal  now  made  by  the  British  government,  without  a 
definite  knowledge  of  the  views  of  that  body  in  reference  to  it, 
might  render  the  question  still  more  complicated  and  difficult  of 
adjustment.  For  these  reasons,  I  invite  the  consideration  of 
the  Senate  to  the  proposal  of  the  British  government  for  the 
settlement  of  the  Oregon  Question,  and  ask  their  advice  on  the 
subject. 

"  My  opinions  and  my  action  on  the  Oregon  Question  were 
fully  made  known  to  Congress  in  my  annual  message  of  the  2d 
of  December  last,  and  the  opinions  therein  expressed  remain 
unchanged. 

"  Should  the  Senate,  by  the  constitutional  majority  required 
for  the  ratification  of  treaties,  advise  the  acceptance  of  this  prop 
osition,  or  advise  it  with  such  modifications  as  they  may,  upon 
full  deliberation,  deem  proper,  I  shall  conform  my  action  to  their 
advice.  Should  the  Senate,  however,  decline,  by  such  consti 
tutional  majority,  to  give  such  advice,  or  to  express  an  opinion 
on  the  subject,  I  shall  consider  it  my  duty  to  reject  the  offer." 

On  Thursday,  June  llth,  Mr.  Haywood,  of  North  Carolina, 
submitted  the  following  resolution  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Senate : 

"Resolved  (two  thirds  of  the  senators  present  concurring), 
That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby 
advised  to  accept  the  proposal  of  the  British  government,  ac 
companying  his  message  to  the  Senate,  dated  the  tenth  of  June, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-six,  for  a  convention  to 
settle  boundaries,  &o.,  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  west  of  the  Rocky  or  Stony  Mountains." 

Mr.  Niles,  of  Connecticut,  moved  to  amend  the  resolution 
by  adding  thereto  the  following : 

"With  the  following  proviso  at  the  end  of  the  second  article 
of  the  proposed  convention,  to  wit : 

"  i  Provided,  That  the  rights  of  navigation  secured  to  British 
subjects  by  this  article  be  limited  to  the  year  A.D.  1859,  when 
they  shall  cease  and  determine.' " 

On  the  following  day,  Mr.  Niles  modified  his  amendment  to 
read  as  follows : 

"  With  the  following  proviso  at  the  end  of  the  second  article 
of  the  proposed  convention,  to  wit : 

" '  Provided,  That  the  right  of  navigating  the  Columbia 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  147 

River,  secured  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  to  all  Brit 
ish  subjects  trading  with  the  same,  be  limited  to  the  year  A.D. 
1863,  when  it  shall  cease  and  determine.' " 

This  am'endment  was  rejected  by  the  following  vote : 

Yeas:  Messrs.  Ashley,  Atherton,  Bagby,  Dix,  Fairfield, 
Houston,  Jenness,  Niles,  Simmons,  and  Woodbridge — 10. 

Nays  :  Messrs.  Archer,  Benton,  Berrien,  Calhoun,  Chalmers, 
Thomas  Clayton,  John  M.  Clayton,  Colquitt,  Davis,  Dayton, 
Evans,  Greene,  Hay  wood,  Huntington,  Johnson  of  Maryland, 
Johnson  of  Louisiana,  Lewis,  M'Duffie,  Mangum,  Miller, 
Morehead,  Pearce,  Pennybacker,  Phelps,  Rusk,  Sevier,  Speight, 
Turney,  Upham,  Webster,  and  Yulee — 31. 

The  resolution  of  Mr.  Hay  wood  was  then  adopted  by  the  fol 
lowing  vote : 

Yeas :  Messrs.  Archer,  Ashley,  Bagby,  Benton,  Berrien,  Cal 
houn,  Chalmers,  Thomas  Clayton,  John  M.  Clayton,  Colquitt, 
Davis,  Dayton,  Dix,  Evans,  Greene,  Hay  wood,  Houston,  Hun 
tington,  Johnson  of  Maryland,  Johnson  of  Louisiana,  Lewis, 
M'Duffie,  Mangum,  Miller,  Morehead,  Niles,  Pearce,  Penny- 
backer,  Phelps,  Rusk,  Sevier,  Simmons,  Speight,  Turney,  Up 
ham,  Webster,  Woodbridge,  and  Yulee — 38. 

Nays:  Messrs.  Allen,  Atherton,  Breese,  Cameron,  Cass, 
Dickinson,  Fairfield,  Hannegan,  Jarnegan,  Jenness,  Semple, 
and  Sturgeon — 12. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Pakenham's  annunciation  of  the  fact  to 
his  government : 

"WASHINGTON,  June  13,  1846. 

"  MY  LORD, — In  conformity  with  what  I  had  the  honor  to  state 
in  my  despatch  (No.  68)  of  the  7th  instant,  the  President  sent 
a  message  on  Wednesday  last  to  the  Senate,  submitting  for  the 
opinion  of  that  body  the  draft  of  a  convention  for  the  settlement 
of  the  Oregon  Question,  which  I  was  instructed  by  your  lord 
ship's  despatch  (No.  19)  of  the  18th  of  May  to  propose  for  the 
acceptance  of  the  United  States. 

"  After  a  few  hours'  deliberation  on  each  of  the  three  days 
(Wednesday,  Thursday,  and  Friday),  the  Senate,  by  a  majority 
of  38  votes  to  12,  adopted  yesterday  evening  a  resolution  ad 
vising  the  President  to  accept  the  terms  proposed  by  her  maj 
esty's  government.  The  President  did  not  hesitate  to  act  on 
this  advice ;  and  Mr.  Buchanan  accordingly  sent  for  me  this 


148  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

morning,  and  informed  me  that  the  conditions  offered  by  her 
majesty's  government  were  accepted  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  without  the  addition  or  alteration  of  a  single  word. 
"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c., 

"  R.  PAKENHAM. 

"The  Right  Hon.  the  EARL  OF  ABERDEEN." 

On  the  15th  of  June,  Mr.  Allen  resigned  the  office  of  Chair 
man  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  The  record  says : 

"  Mr.  Allen  rose  and  said : 

"  '  Mr.  President, — At  the  commencement  of  the  session,  the 
vote  of  the  Senate  placed  my  name  first  upon  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Relations.  Upon  a  very  serious  question  arising 
out  of  those  relations,  and  deeply  involving  the  nation's  rights 
and  interests,  I  have  been  unable  to  conform  my  opinion  to  that 
which  recent  events,  of  which  I  am  not  now  at  liberty  to  speak, 
show  to  be  the  opinion  of  the  Senate.  I  deem  it  proper,  there 
fore,  to  afford  the  Senate  an  opportunity  to  reconstruct  the  com 
mittee,  with  a  view  to  that  coincidence  of  opinion  between  the 
Senate  and  its  committee  on  matters  especially  assigned  by  the 
former  to  the  latter,  which  is  essential  to  the  unembarrassed 
action  of  the  body. 

"  l  I  ask  to  be  excused  from  further  service  upon  the  Commit 
tee  on  Foreign  Relations.' 

"  The  question  being  put  upon  the  motion  to  discharge,  it 
was  agreed  to. 

"  Mr.  Webster  moved  that  the  Senate  should,  at  one  o'clock 
to-morrow,  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  chairman  of  the  Com 
mittee  on  Foreign  Relations,  which  motion  was  agreed  to. 

"  Mr.  Cass  said : 

"  '  Mr.  President, — Having  served  upon  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations  with  the  honorable  chairman,  I  beg  leave, 
before  his  connection  with  it  is  dissolved,  to  bear  my  testimony 
to  the  zeal  and  ability  with  which  he  has  discharged  his  duties. 
He  has  rendered  important  services  to  the  Senate,  the  adminis 
tration,  and  the  country ;  and  while  I  appreciate  the  honorable 
motives  which  have  induced  him  to  relinquish  the  distinguished 
station  he  is  so  well  qualified  to  fill,  I  can  not  but  express  my 
regret  that  we  should  be  deprived  of  his  services  hereafter. 

"  But,  sir,  I  owe  it  to  myself  to  declare  that,  in  relation  to 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  149 

,,  x 

the  great  measure  to  which  the  honorable  senator  has  alluded, 
my  sentiments  have  accorded  with  his,  and  my  course  with  his. 
We  have  sought  the  same  end  by  the  same  means.  There  has 
been  no  difference  of  opinion  between  us.  While,  therefore,  I 
shall  continue  to  retain  the  subordinate  station  I  hold  upon  the 
committee,  I  can  not,  under  any  circumstances,  accept  the  po 
sition  he  has  filled  so  ably,  and  resigned  so  honorably,  even 
should  the  Senate  think  proper  to  bestow  it  upon  me.  I  have 
thought  it  not  improper,  considering  my  relation  to  the  commit 
tee,  to  make  this  declaration,  as  the  reasons  the  honorable  sen 
ator  has  given  for  his  course  would  apply,  in  a  great  measure, 
to  myself,  were  I  the  chairman  and  organ  of  the  committee." 

On  the  16th  of  June,  the  President  transmitted  to  the  Sen 
ate  the  convention,  duly  "  concluded  and  signed,"  in  the  follow 
ing  words : 

"  Convention  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  her 
majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  concluded  at  Washington  on  the  \5th  of  June, 
1846. 

"  The  United  States  of  America  and  her  majesty  the  Queen 
of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  deeming 
it  to  be  desirable,  for  the  future  welfare  of  both  countries,  that 
the  state  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  which  has  hitherto  prevailed 
respecting  the  sovereignty  and  government  of  the  territory  on 
the  northwest  coast  of  America,  lying  westward  of  the  Rocky 
or  Stony  Mountains,  should  be  finally  terminated  by  an  ami 
cable  compromise  of  the  rights  mutually  asserted  by  the  two 
parties  over  the  said  territory,  have  respectively  named  pleni 
potentiaries  to  treat  and  agree  concerning  the  terms  of  such 
settlement ;  that  is  to  say,  the  President  of  the  United  States 
of  America  has,  on  his  part,  furnished  with  full  powers  James 
Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  and  her 
majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  has,  on  her  part,  appointed  the  Right  Honorable  Richard 
Pakenham,  a  member  of  her  majesty's  most  honorable  privy 
council,  and  her  majesty's  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister 
plenipotentiary  to  the  United  States ;  who,  after  having  com 
municated  to  each  other  their  respective  full  powers,  found  in 
good  and  due  form,  have  agreed  upon  and  concluded  the  follow 
ing  articles : 


150  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

"  ARTICLE  I. 

"  From  the  point  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude 
where  the  boundary  laid  down  in  existing  treaties  and  conven 
tions  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  terminates, 
the  line  of  boundary  between  the  territories  of  the  United  States 
and  those  of  her  Britannic  majesty  shall  be  continued  westward 
along  the  said  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude  to  the  middle 
of  the  channel  which  separates  the  continent  from  Vancouver's 
Island,  and  thence  southerly  through  the  middle  of  the  said 
channel  and  of  Fuca's  Straits  to  the  Pacific  Ocean :  Provided, 
however,  That  the  navigation  of  the  whole  of  the  said  channel 
and  straits,  south  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
remain  free  and  open  to  both  parties. 

"ARTICLE  II. 

"From  the  point  at  which  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north 
latitude  shall  be  found  to  intersect  the  great  northern  branch 
of  the  Columbia  River,  the  navigation  of  the  said  branch  shall 
be  free  and  open  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  to  all 
British  subjects  trading  with  the  same,  to  the  point  where  the 
said  branch  meets  the  main  stream  of  the  Columbia,  and  thence 
down  the  said  main  stream  to  the  ocean,  with  free  access  into 
and  through  the  said  river  or  rivers,  it  being  understood  that 
all  the  usual  postages  along  the  line  thus  described  shall  in  like 
manner  be  free  and  open.  In  navigating  the  said  river  or  riv 
ers,  British  subjects,  with  their  goods  and  produce,  shall  be 
treated  on  the  same  footing  as  citizens  of  the  United  States ; 
it  being,  however,  always  understood,  that  nothing  in  this  ar 
ticle  shall  be  construed  as  preventing,  or  intended  to  prevent, 
the  government  of  the  United  States  from  making  any  regula 
tions  respecting  the  navigation  of  the  said  river  or  rivers  not 
inconsistent  with  the  present  treaty. 

"  ARTICLE  III. 

"In  the  future  appropriation  of  the  territory  south  of  the 
forty-ninth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  as  provided  in  the  first 
article  of  this  treaty,  the  possessory  rights  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  of  all  British  subjects  who  may  be  already  in 
the  occupation  of  land  or  other  property  lawfully  acquired  within 
the  said  territory,  shall  be  respected. 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  151 

"  ARTICLE  IV. 

"  The  farms,  lands,  and  other  property  of  every  description, 
belonging  to  the  Puget's  Sound  Agricultural  Company,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Columbia  River,  shall  be  confirmed  to  the  said 
company.  In  case,  however,  the  situation  of  those  farms  and 
lands  should  be  considered  by  the  United  States  to  be  of  public 
and  political  importance,  and  the  United  States  government 
should  signify  a  desire  to  obtain  possession  of  the  whole  or  any 
part  thereof,  the  property  so  required  shall  be  transferred  to  the 
said  government,  at  a  proper  valuation  to  be  agreed  upon  be 
tween  the  parties. 

"ARTICLE  V. 

"  The  present  treaty  shall  be  ratified  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Sen 
ate  thereof,  and  by  her  Britannic  majesty  ;  and  the  ratifications 
shall  be  exchanged  at  London  at  the  expiration  of  six  months 
from  the  date  hereof,  or  sooner,  if  possible. 

"In  witness  whereof,  the  respective  plenipotentiaries  have 
signed  the  same,  and  have  affixed  thereto  the  seals  of  their  arms. 

"  Done  at  Washington  the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-six. 

"  JAMES  BUCHANAN.  [L.  s.] 

"RICHARD  PAKENHAM."     [L.  s.] 

On  the  18th  of  June,  Mr.  M'Duffie  submitted  the  following 
resolution : 

"  Resolved  (two  thirds  of  the  senators  present  concurring), 
That  the  Senate  advise  and  consent  to  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  her  majesty, 
the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
concluded  at  Washington  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  June,  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-six." 

This  resolution  Mr.  Hannegan  moved  to  amend  by  striking 
out  all  after  the  word  "Resolved"  and  inserting  the  following 
in  lieu  thereof: 

"  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  here 
by  advised  by  the  Senate  to  offer  to  the  government  of  Great 
Britain,  as  a  just,  fair,  and  equitable  compromise  of  the  con- 


152  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

flicting  claims  of  the  two  governments  connected  with  the  coun 
try  lying  along  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  extending  from  the  parallel  of  forty-two  degrees  to  fifty- 
four  degrees  and  forty  minutes  north  latitude,  and  including 
the  islands  embraced  within  said  parallels  of  latitude  adjacent 
to  the  coast,  the  following,  as  the  fundamental  provisions  for  a 
treaty  between  the  two  governments : 

"  Fir sty  The  government  of  Great  Britain  shall  acknowledge 
the  right  of  soil  and  the  sovereignty  to  exist  and  be  with  the 
United  States  to  the  whole  territory  above  described,  and  shall 
abandon  to  the  United  States  all  claim  which  shall  in  any  man 
ner  conflict  with  the  paramount  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
therein. 

"  Second,  The  United  States  shall  guaranty  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  for  twenty  years  from  the  date  of  such  treaty, 
the  most  perfect  security  in  all  their  possessions,  and  the  right 
to  pursue  their  business  of  hunting  and  trapping,  with  all  the 
immunities  which  pertain  thereto,  and  ta  trade  during  that  pe 
riod  with  the  natives,  and  the  use  during  that  time  of  the  ports, 
rivers,  and  harbors  within  said  territory,  without  charge  or  hin- 

derance. 

<. 

"  Third,  Within  twelve  months  from  the  date  of  said  treaty, 
commissioners  shall  be  selected,  by  and  on  behalf  of  the  respect 
ive  governments,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  assess,  at  just  and 
liberal  prices,  the  value  of  the  property  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  within  said  territory,  which  amount,  when  ascer 
tained,  shall  be  paid  by  the  United  States  to  said  company,  in 
such  manner  and  at  such  time  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain." 

This  amendment  was  rejected  by  the  following  vote : 

Yeas :  Messrs.  Atchison,  Cameron,  Hannegan,  Semple,  and 
Sturgeon — 5. 

Nays :  Messrs.  Archer,  Ashley,  Atherton,  Bagby,  Barrow, 
Benton,  Berrien,  Calhoun,  Chalmers,  Thomas  Clayton,  John 
M.  Clayton,  Colquitt,  Corwin,  Crittenden,  Davis,  Dayton,  Dix, 
Evans,  Greene,  Haywood,  Houston,  Huntington,  Johnson  of 
Maryland,  Johnson  of  Louisiana,  Lewis,  M'Duffie,  Mangum, 
Miller,  Morehead,  Niles,  Pearce,  Pennybacker,  Phelps,  Rusk, 
Sevier,  Simmons,  Speight,  Turney,  Upham,  Webster,  Wood- 
bridge,  and  Yulee — 42. 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  153 

The  question  was  then  taken  on  the  resolution  of  Mr.  M'Duffie-, 
which  was  adopted  by  the  following  vote : 

Yeas :  Messrs.  Archer,  Ashley,  Bagby,  Barrow,  Benton,  Ber- 
rien,  Calhoun,  Chalmers,  Thomas  Clayton,  John  M.  Clayton, 
Colquitt,  Corwin,  Crittenden,  Davis,  Dayton,  Dix,  Evans, 
Greene,  Hay  wood,  Houston,  Huntington,  Johnson  of  Mary 
land,  Johnson  of  Louisiana,  Lewis,  M'Duffie,  Mangum,  Miller, 
Morehead,  Niles,  Pearoe,  Pennybacker,  Phelps,  Rusk,  Sevier, 
Simmons,  Speight,  Turney,  Upham,  Webster,  Woodbridge,  and 
Yulee-41. 

Nays :  Messrs.  Allen,  Atchison,  Atherton,  Breese,  Bright, 
Cameron,  Cass,  Dickinson,  Fairfield,  Hannegan,  Jenness,  Sem- 
ple,  Sturgeon,  and  Westcott — 14. 

So  the  Senate  advised  and  consented  to  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  some  doubts  exist  as  to  the  true  con 
struction  of  the  second  article  of  the  convention.  Mr.  Buchan 
an,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  M'Lane,  dated  June  13th,  1846,  notify 
ing  him  that  the  Senate  had  given  its  "  previous  advice"  in  re 
gard  to  the  project  of  a  convention,  says, 

"  I  have  learned  from  the  best  sources  that  the  Senate  gave 
this  advice  under  the  conviction  that,  by  the  true  construction 
of  the  second  article  of  the*  project,  the  right  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  to  navigate  the  Columbia  would  expire  with  the 
termination  of  their  present  license  to  trade  with  the  islands, 
&c.,  on  the  northwest  coast  of  America,  on  the  30th  of  May, 
1859.  In  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Pakenham  to-day,  I  com 
municated  this  fact  to  him,  and  requested  him  to  state  it  in  his 
dispatch  to  Lord  Aberdeen. 

"  The  treaty  will  be  signed  and  sent  to  the  Senate  on  Mon 
day  next,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  they  will,  in  some 
form  or  other,  place  upon  their  records  their  understanding  of 
its  true  construction  in  this  particular." 

It  does  not  appear  that  any  such  understanding  was  placed 
on  the  records  of  the  Senate. 

And  so  the  long  agony  was  over ! 

No  member  of  either  House  had  been  more  thoroughly  com 
mitted,  on  behalf  of  himself  and  his  people,  to  the  extreme  claim, 
than  Mr.  Douglas.  Its  abandonment,  we  believe,  was  a  sore 
subject  to  him.  How  he  reconciled  his  constituents  to  their  be- 


154  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

reavement,  we  are  not  informed.  Historians  record  that  when 
Calais  was  finally  wrested  from  the  grasp  of  the  British  crown, 
in  whose  possession  it  had  been  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years,  Queen  Mary,  in  the  bitterness  of  her  sorrow  for  the  event, 
never  smiled  afterward ;  and  that,  only  a  brief  space  before  the 
close  of  her  mortal  career,  she  remarked,  "  When  I  am  dead, 
the  name  of  Calais  will  be  found  engraven  on  my  heart."  More 
manly,  but  scarcely  less  intense,  have  we  supposed  the  grief  of 
Mr.  Douglas  to  be  at  the  loss  of  a  portion  of  the  Oregon  Ter 
ritory.  Nor  do  we  transcend  our  license  when  we  imagine 
the  possibility  that,  when  his  race  shall  have  been  run,  deeply 
imprinted  on  the  mol,dering  fabric  of  his  heart  may  be  found  the 
words  "  fifty-four  degrees  forty  minutes  north  latitude." 

The  point  has  been  much  disputed  whether,  by  sanctioning 
a  treaty  on  the  basis  of  forty-nine,  the  President  violated  his 
faith  with  the  Democratic  party.  The  question  was  distinctly 
put  to  Mr.  Douglas  in  debate,  with  reference  to  the  proposition 
rejected  by  the  British  ministry,  when  the  following  colloquy 
took  place.  The  answer  is  as  near  to  being  specific  as  any 
thing  that  has  been  elicited  in  the  House. 

"  Mr.  Douglas  resumed  his  remarks  in  comment  upon  these 
topics  and  the  points  which  had  been  evolved,  particularly  urg 
ing  the  position  that  no  Democrat  could,  consistently  with  the 
resolution  of  the  Baltimore  Convention,  consent  to  any  thing 
less  than  54°  40'  in  Oregon. 

"  Mr.  Seddon  interfered,  and  inquired  if  he  understood  the 
gentleman  to  say  that  the  Democratic  party  were  committed, 
by  the  resolution  of  the  Baltimore  Convention,  to  go  for  54°  40', 
and  never  yield  any  thing  south  of  that  under  any  circumstan 
ces  ?  Did  }ie  hold  the  Democratic  party  pledged  to  that  line  ? 

"  Mr.  Douglas  replied  that  he  did  understand  the  Democratic 
party  to  be  solemnly  pledged,  at  the  Baltimore  Convention,  by 
a  unanimous  resolution  of  the  Democratic  party,  to  stand  by 
54°  40',  and  never  to  yield  one  inch. 

"  Mr.  Seddon.  '  Does  the  gentleman,  then,  understand  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  nominated  by  that  convention, 
and  representing  that  creed,  to  have  violated  the  Democratic 
creed  in  offering  the  parallel  of  49°  ?' 

"  Mr.  Douglas's  hour  here  expired. 

"  Mr.  J.  W.  Houston  obtained  the  floor,  and  yielded,  in  com- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  155 

pliance  with  what  seemed  to  be  the  very  general  desire  of  the 
House,  for  the  purpose  of  reply,  to  Mr.  Douglas,  who  again  re 
ferred  to  the  speech  of  Mr.  Polk  in  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  in  1828,  in  favor  of  our  title  to  54°  40',  and  who  traced 
the  unity  of  position  occupied  by  him  from  that  period  down  to 
his  inaugural  address,  in  which  he  had  declared  our  title  to  the 
whole  of  Oregon  '  clear  and  unquestionable.'  But  when  Mr. 
Polk  came  into  office,  he  found  a  protocol  signed,  pledging  his 
government  to  the  principle  of  compromise  pending  that  nego 
tiation  ;  but  for  that  fact,  which  committed  him  during  that 
one  negotiation,  Mr.  Douglas  would,  before  this,  have  pro 
nounced  that  proposition  of  49°  a  treasonable  proposition,  as  he 
had  pronounced  the  same  offer  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Clay.  *He 
did  understand  Mr.  Polk  in  his  inaugural  address  as  standing 
up  erect  to  the  pledge  of  the  Baltimore  Convention ;  and  he 
now  said  that,  come  what  may,  let  who  may  do  it,  whenever 
the  proposition  of  49°  should  again  be  offered,  he  would  never 
take  back  the  declaration  he  had  made,  that  it  was  a  treasona 
ble  proposition.  The  negotiation  which  Mr.  Polk  found  in 
progress  when  he  came  into  office,  and  by  which  he  was  em 
barrassed,  was  now  ended ;  and  if  ever  it  was  commenced  again 
upon  that  principle,  in  violation  of  the  pledges  given  by  the 
Democratic  party  to  the  American  people,  sooner  let  his  tongue 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  his  mouth  than  he  would  defend  that  party 
which  should  yield  one  inch  of  Oregon. 

"  Mr.  Seddon  asked  leave  to  make  a  further  remark. 

"  Mr.  Houston  declined  to  comply  with  the  request." 

As  part  of  the  history  of  this  controversy,  we  copy  from  the 
"  National  Intelligencer"  of  August  25th,  1847,  the  following 
extract  from  a  New  York  journal,  taken  from  an  English  paper, 
and  which  discloses  the  particular  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Web 
ster  in  bringing  about  the  overture  and  pacification  which  fol 
lowed  : 

"  The  Oregon  Territory. — In  reply  to  a  question  put  to  him 
in  reference  to  the  present  war  establishments  of  this  country, 
and  the  propriety  of  applying  the  principle  of  arbitration  in  the 
settlement  of  disputes  arising  among  nations,  Mr.  M'Gregor, 
one  of  the  candidates  for  the  representation  of  Glasgow,  took  oc 
casion  to  narrate  the  following  very  important  and  remarkable 
anecdote  in  connection  with  our  recent,  but  now  happily-ter- 


156  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

minated  difference  with  the  United  States  on  the  Oregon  Ques 
tion.  When  our  embassador  at  Washington,  the  Hon.  Mr. 
Pakenham,  refused  to  negotiate  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of 
north  latitude  as  the  basis  of  a  treaty,  and  when,  by  that  refu 
sal,  the  danger  of  a  rupture  between  Great  Britain  and  Amer 
ica  became  really  imminent,  Mr.  Daniel  Webster,  formerly  Sec 
retary  of  State  to  the  American  government,  wrote  a  letter  to 
Mr.  M'Gregor,  in  which  he  strongly  deprecated  Mr.  Paken- 
ham's  conduct,  which,  if  persisted  in  and  adopted  at  home, 
would  to  a  certainty  embroil  the  two  countries,  and  suggested 
an  equitable  compromise,  taking  the  forty-ninth  parallel  as  the 
basis  of  an  adjustment. 

"  Mr.  M'Gregor,  agreeing  entirely  with  Mr.  Webster  in  the 
propriety  of  a  mutual  giving  and  taking  to  avoid  a  rupture,  and 
the  more  especially  as  the  whole  territory  in  dispute  was  not 
worth  twenty  thousand  pounds  to  either  power,  while  the  prep 
arations  alone  for  a  war  would  cost  a  great  deal  more  before  the 
parties  could  come  into  actual  conflict,  communicated  the  con 
tents  of  Mr.  Webster's  letter  to  Lord  John  Russell,  who,  at 
the  time,  was  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  Edinburgh,  and  in 
reply  received  a  letter  from  Lord  John,  in  which  he  stated  his 
entire  accordance  with  the  proposal  recommended  by  Mr.  Web 
ster,  and  approved  of  by  Mr.  M'Gregor,  and  requested  the  latter, 
as  he  (Lord  John)  was  not  in  a  position  to  do  it  himself,  to  in 
timate  his  opinion  to  Lord  Aberdeen.  Mr.  M'Gregor,  through 
Lord  Canning,  Under  Secretary  for  the  Foreign  Department, 
did  so,  and  the  result  was,  that  the  first  packet  that  left  En 
gland  carried  out  to  America  the  proposal,  in  accordance  with 
the  communication  already  referred  to,  on  which  the  treaty  of 
Oregon  was  happily  concluded." 

The  following  letter  from  Mr.  M'Lane  forms  also  an  impor 
tant  link  in  the  chain  of  this  history.  It  was  written  in  reply 
to  an  address  presented  to  him  by  the  New  York  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  in  September,  1846,  on  his  return  from  the  court 
of  Great  Britain,  acknowledging  his  eminent  services  in  the  ne 
gotiations,  "  and  the  utility,  zeal,  and  firmness,  commingled 
with  amenity,  by  which  his  course  had  been  distinguished." 

"  MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN, — It  is  so  difficult  as  almost 
to  discourage  the  attempt  to  find  adequate  words  in  which  to 
make  you  my  thanks  for  the  sense  you  entertain  of  my  public 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  157 

services,  and  for  the  flattering  terms  in  which  you  have  been 
pleased  to  give  it  expression.  Such  a  compliment,  proceeding 
from  such  a  body  of  my  countrymen,  would  be  an  ample  re 
ward  for  greater  merit  than  I  could  possibly  pretend  to,  and  I 
will  not  attempt  to  disguise  the  sincere  gratification  it  has  af 
forded  me.  Highly  as  I  value  it,  however,  it  gives  me  great 
pleasure  to  acknowledge  that,  being  myself,  upon  the  occasion 
to  which  you  particularly  refer,  only  an  instrument  in  assisting 
the  purposes  of  others,  the  great  share  of  your  approbation  is 
due  to  those  with  whom  I  co-operated. 

"  Omitting  for  a  moment  a  more  particular  reference  to  the 
conduct  and  dispositions  of  our  own  government,  I  may,  with 
out  impropriety,  assure  you,  that  your  reference  to  the  distin 
guished  British  statesman  by  whom  the  negotiation  on  the  part 
of  that  government  was  directed  is  fully  merited,  and  that, 
upon  any  occasion  of  congratulation  upon  the  result,  too  much 
praise  can  not  be  bestowed  upon  his  manly  sense  and  unwaver 
ing  determination  to  promote  an  amicable  settlement  of  the 
question. 

"  I  am  free,  at  the  same  time,  to  assure  you,  gentlemen,  that 
no  one  can  be  more  sensible  of  the  importance  of  peace  to  all 
interests  of  the  country,  and  especially  to  those  which  you  so 
worthily  represent,  than  I  am.  Of  course,  where  the  honor  of 
the  country  is  involved,  no  one  would  stop  to  count  the  cost,  or 
estimate  the  evils  of  war  ;  but  it  is  a  gratifying  evidence  of  the 
advance  of  the  age  in  which  we  live,  that  the  rulers  of  states 
are  not  afraid  to  acknowledge  that  the  national  honor  is  more 
apt  to  be  committed  by  hasty  and  impracticable  demands,  than 
by  wise  and  timely  concessions. 

"  Governments,  like  ours  especially,  can  rarely  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  world  without  incurring  a  weighty  responsibility 
to  the  cause  of  civilization  and  human  happiness,  and,  if  not 
hazarding  their  own  stability,  without  seriously  impairing  their 
moral  influence. 

"  I  certainly  could  not  have  been  induced  to  return  to  politi 
cal  life  as  the  representative  of  my  country  abroad,  unless  I  had 
been  persuaded  that,  in  the  crisis  to  which  you  have  referred, 
the  views  of  my  own  government  hadvbeen  entirely  consistent 
with  such  a  settlement  of  the  Oregon  Question  as  ought  to  have 
secured  an  honorable  peace,  and  unless  I  had  entertained  the 


158  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

hope  that  I  might  be  enabled,  in  some  degree,  to  co-operate  to 
that  end. 

"  For  myself,  after  our  several  conventions  of  1818  and  1828 
for  the  joint  occupation  of  the  territory  (the  latter  of  which  re 
ceived  my  support  as  a  senator  of  the  United  States),  I  had  al 
ways  regarded  the  Oregon  Question  as  less  dependent  upon  the 
force  of  title  than  upon  the  principles  of  an  equitable  partition. 

"It  would  have  been  unreasonable  to  expect,  after  such  ac 
knowledgments  of  the  right  of  joint  occupancy,  that  either  party 
would  be  permitted  wholly  to  dispossess  the  other,  at  least  with 
out  some  regard  to  interests  which  had  grown  up  during  their 
mutual  possession.  It  appears  to  me,  also,  that  all  the  previous 
acts  of  our  government  had  not  only  been  consistent  with,  but 
affirmatory  of  this  view  ;  and  I  could  see  nothing  in  the  national 
honor  that  would  justify,  much  less  demand,  a  departure  from 
it.  Possessing  before,  in  as  great  a  degree  as  after,  the  treaty 
with  Spain  in  1819,  all  the  title  to  which,  on  the  ground  of 
discovery,  we  could  assert  to  the  country  drained  by  the  waters 
of  the  Columbia,  and  which,  if  good  for  any  thing,  was  valid 
beyond  the  fifty-second  parallel  degree  of  latitude,  our  govern 
ment  at  no  time  proposed  a  more  northern  boundary  than  the 
parallel  of  fifty-one,  and  never  demanded  more  than  that  of 
forty-nine.  Having  some  knowledge,  from  my  official  position 
at  that  time,  of  the  policy  and  objects  of  the  convention  of  1828, 
I  am  quite  persuaded  that  its  main  design  was  to  lead,  in  a  fu 
ture  partition  of  the  territory,  to  the  recognition  of  our  claim  to 
the  country,  not  north,  but  south  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel, 
and  between  that  and  the  Columbia  River.  A  division  of  the 
country  upon  that  principle,  with  a  reasonable  regard  to  rights 
grown  up  under  the  joint  possession,  always  appeared  to  me  to 
afford  a  just  and  practicable  basis  for  an  amicable  and  honora 
ble  adjustment  of  the  subject.  Such,  also,  I  was  satisfied,  were 
the  views  of  our  government  at  the  time  I  engaged  in  my  re 
cent  mission ;  and  in  earnestly  and  steadily  laboring  to  effect  a 
settlement  upon  that  basis,  I  was  but  representing  the  policy 
of  my  own  government,  and  faithfully  promoting  the  intentions 
and  wishes  of  the  President. 

"  It  must  be  very  rare  if,  in  complicated  differences  between 
great  nations,  peaceful  relations  can  be  preserved  without  some 
modification  of  extreme  pretensions ;  and  upon  the  present  oc- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  159 

casion,  from  the  length  of  time  for  which  the  question  had  been 
depending,  together  with  the  often-repeated  propositions  of  both 
sides,  the  two  governments  could  not  have  been  reasonably  ex 
pected  to  come  to  an  amicable  arrangement  without  some  mu 
tual  concession  of  their  former  demands. 

"  If,  on  our  side,  by  dividing  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel  and 
the  Straits  of  Fuca,  we  yielded  the  southern  cape  of  Vancou 
ver's  Island,  Great  Britain  surrendered  her  previous  claim  to 
the  jurisdiction  and  unoccupied  territory  between  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  and  the  Columbia  River.  At  the  same  time,  We 
have  effected  a  material  modification  of  our  former  offer  of  the 
surrender  of  the  perpetual  navigation  of  the  Columbia  River  to 
British  trade  and  British  subjects  generally.  Although,  from 
deference  to  the  views  and  opinions  of  others,  which  it  was  no 
less  my  wish  than  my  duty  to  respect,  I  earnestly  endeavored 
to  effect  a  settlement  upon  the  basis  of  allowing  the  navigation 
of  the  river  to  the  general  trade  for  a  period  of  twenty  years ; 
nevertheless,  when  that,  from  causes  to  which  I  need  not  now 
particularly  refer,  proved  to  be  impracticable ,  in  suggesting  and 
urging  that  it  should  be  restricted  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
I  thought  I  was  effecting  an  object  even  less  objectionable. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that,  in  the  present  state  of  commerce,  it  is 
not  only  the  interest,  but  the  practice  of  nations,  independent  of 
some  inveterate  notions  of  colonial  policy,  already  yielding  to 
more  enlightened  views,  to  allow  the  greatest  freedom  of  rivers 
and  ports  to  the  trade  of  the  world ;  and  it  may  be  observed,  that, 
until  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  shall  determine  to 
abandon  the  reciprocity  secured  by  the  existing  commercial  con 
vention,  the  recent  Oregon  treaty  confers  fewer  privileges  of 
navigation  than  may  be  claimed  and  enjoyed  under  the  com 
mercial  convention.  I  felt  confident,  moreover,  that  long  be 
fore  the  two  governments  would  desire  to  alter  their  existing 
commercial  freedom,  if,  indeed,  they  should  ever  desire  to  do  so, 
during  the  continuance  of  peace,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
would  cease  to  have  any  occasion  or  motive  to  navigate  such  a 
river  as  the  Columbia  is  known  to  be.  It  would  not  be  easy  to 
imagine  any  use  they  could  make  of  it,  during  a  state  of  peace, 
inconsistent  with  the  commerce  and  interests  of  our  own  citizens. 

"Universal  satisfaction  at  the  adjustment  of  a  difficulty  so 
complicated  and  inveterate  was  scarcely  to  be  expected,  and  yet 


160  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

it  is  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  know  that  its  general  accepta- 
bleness  to  the  country  at  large  affords  a  sure  guaranty  of  the 
continuance  of  our  future  peace.  The  tone  and  temper  with 
which  the  negotiation  was  conducted  in  their  several  depart 
ments,  by  both  governments,  have  been  creditable  to  their  wis 
dom  and  moderation,  and  have  already  served  to  elevate  our 
own  in  the  opinion  of  other  nations. 

"  I  sincerely  believe  that  these  effects  can  not  be  too  highly 
appreciated;  and  if  any  portion  of  our  fellow-citizens,  in  any 
section  of  the  country,  should  feel  that  they  have  not  obtained 
all  the  territory  or  advantages  they  had  expected  to  acquire,  it 
may  be  hoped  they  will,  nevertheless,  be  satisfied  that  the  na 
tional  honor,  so  far  from  suffering,  has  really  been  elevated  by 
the  result,  and  that,  in  preserving  the  blessings  of  peace,  and 
keeping  our  country  steadily  in  a  career  of  glorious  prosperity, 
they  will  be  amply  compensated  for  any  disappointment  they 
may  have  experienced,  and  gain  far  more  than  an  equivalent 
for  any  doubtful  advantage  to  be  sought  only  through  the  in 
strumentality  of  war. 

"  Having  now  effaced  upon  honorable  terms  the  last  cause 
that  threatened  the  peace  of  two  people  of  kindred  origin,  and 
associated  by  commercial  relations  more  extensive  and  impor 
tant  than  exist  between  any  other  two  nations  of  the  globe, 
may  we  not  now  hope  to  begin  a  new  career  of  international 
intercourse,  and  by  the  uninterrupted  pursuit  of  commerce  and 
the  arts,  extend  and  cement  our  relations  ?  It  ought  to  be  con 
sidered  as  fortunate  that  these  results  have  happened  at  a  mo 
ment  when,  by  the  wisdom  and  courage  of  British  statesmen, 
a  new  and  important  step  has  been  taken  in  the  enlargement 
of  commerce,  by  which  the  trade  of  different  nations  must  be 
vastly  extended,  and  the  motives  of  harmonious  relations  in 
definitely  multiplied,  as,  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  especially,  the  causes  which  ought  naturally  to  asso 
ciate  the  two  people  upon  an  honorable  basis,  and  contribute  to 
their  mutual  prosperity,  may  now  have  fair  play,  and  our  com 
petitions  in  future  be  confined  to  a  generous  rivalry  in  all  that 
can  advance  the  happiness  of  the  people  of  both  countries,  and 
of  mankind  at  large. 

"I  would  do  injustice  to  the  occasion  if  I  should  omit  to 
state  it  as  my  opinion,  that  in  the  country  and  among  the  peo- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  161 

pie  I  have  just  left,  these  expectations  begin  to  be  generally 
entertained,  and  that  the  settlement  of  the  Oregon  Question 
will  soon  come  to  be  universally  regarded  as  the  knell  of  those 
inveterate  jealousies  and  feuds  which,  it  may  be  apprehended, 
have  so  long  exerted  a  mischievous  influence  over  the  people, 
if  not  upon  the  councils  of  both  countries. 

"I  may  say  with  certainty,  also,  that  whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  result  by  some  respectable  portions  of  our  coun 
trymen,  the  terms  we  have  ultimately  obtained,  no  less  than 
the  vindication  of  our  rights  and  the  ultimate  approval  of  an 
honorable  concession,  have  added  another  refutation  to  the 
charge  of  undue  ambition,  and  to  the  imputation  upon  our  na 
tional  faith  and  stability,  not  unfrequently  made  in  some  quar 
ters  of  Europe. 

"  If  these  advantages  be  properly  appreciated,  the  time  is  not 
remote  when  all  will  be  ready  to  acknowledge  and  rejoice  in 
the  result. 

"The  occasion  may  not  be  inapt  to  bear  my  testimony  to 
the  sense  universally  entertained  abroad  of  the  enterprise  and 
punctuality  of  the  commercial  classes  of  the  United  States,  and 
to  the  influence  it  has  exerted  in  sustaining  American  credit, 
in  defiance  of  causes  which  I  too  ,deeply  deplore  to  attempt  at 
this  time  more  particularly  to  allude  to.  I  will  add,  too,  that 
even  these  causes  are  beginning  to  feel  the  influence  of  juster 
views  and  of  a  brighter  hope,  and  that  little  more  than  a  per 
severance  by  some  of  our  local  governments  in  their  exertions 
to  maintain  the  public  credit  is  needed  to  elevate  our  country 
to  a  proud  and  enviable  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  earth." 

We  have  referred  elsewhere  [see  title,  HOWELL  COBB]  to  the 
report  and  resolutions  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Douglas  in  behalf  of 
the  Committee  on  Elections,  in  the  case  of  the  states  which 
had  not  complied  with  the  districting  law  of  Congress. 

Among  other  measures  introduced  by  Mr.  Douglas,  we  note 
a  bill  to  extend  the  maritime  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  the 
United  States  to  the  lakes.  Heretofore,  that  jurisdiction  had 
been  confined  to  the  ocean,  and  its  limit  had  been  the  ebbing 
and  flowing  of  the  tide.  The  bill  which  he  reported,  and  which 
is  now  the  law  of  the  land,  extended  the  jurisdiction  to  the  chain 
of  northern  lakes,  thus,  in  effect,  putting  them  on  an  equality 
with  the  high  seas. 

VOL  L— L 


162  HISTORY   OP   CONGRESS. 

He  was  among  the  most  prominent  supporters  of  the  bill  re 
funding  the  fine  imposed  by  Judge  Hall  on  General  Jackson. 
He  argued  that  to  refuse  to  pass  it  would  be  an  act  of  the 
grossest  injustice  to  the  American  people,  and  would  stamp 
them  with  ingratitude  to  their  bravest  defender.  He  denied 
that  General  Jackson  had  violated  either  the  Constitution  or 
the  law  at  New  Orleans.  He  insisted  that  the  general  right 
fully  performed  every  act  that  his  duty  required,  and  that  his 
right  to  declare  and  enforce  martial  law  was  derived  from  the 
necessity  of  its  existence  in  time  of  war  for  the  defense  of  the 
country.  The  defense  of  the  lives  and  liberties  of  the  people, 
as  well  as  their  property,  being  all  intrusted  to  the  discretion 
of  the  commanding  general,  it  became  his  duty  to  declare  mar 
tial  law  if  the  necessity  of  the  case  required  it.  He  acknowl 
edged  that  this  was  a  high-handed  and  despotic  power,  only  to 
be  exercised  when  necessary,  and  to  cease  when  the  necessity 
no  longer  existed ;  but  it  was  sufficient  for  him  to  know  that 
the  commanding  general,  the  governor  and  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  Louisiana,  the  courts,  and  the  whole  population  of  the 
city  of  New  Orleans,  and  even  Judge  Hall  himself,  declared 
that  martial  law  was  necessary  to  the  defense  of  the  city. 

The  following  anecdote,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  was 
related  by  an  eye-witness,  and  published  in  a  highly-respecta 
ble  journal,  from  which  we  take  it : 

"  Every  thing  that  relates  to  Andrew  Jackson,  the  hero  of 
New  Orleans  and  the  friend  of  his  country,  is  of  deep  interest 
to  the  American  people ;  and  although  the  incident  we  are 
about  to  relate  is  in  itself  of  no  great  interest,  it  becomes  so 
to  us  in  consequence  of  those  connected  with  it. 

"  At  the  Nashville  Convention  of  August  last,  we  visited  the 
Hermitage  (only  twelve  miles  distant)  in  company  with  Judge 
Douglas  of  this  state,  and  some  other  of  our  fellow-citizens. 
The  Hermitage  was  crowded  with  people  from  almost  every 
state,  who  had  been  invited  thither  by  the  venerable  patriot  on 
the  day  succeeding  the  Convention. 

"  Governor  Clay,  of  Alabama,  was  near  General  Jackson,  who 
was  himself  sitting  on  the  sofa  in  the  hall  of  his  residence,  and 
as  each  person  entered,  the  governor  introduced  him  to  the 
hero,  and  he  passed  along.  When  Judge  Douglas  was  thus 
introduced,  General  Jackson  raised  his  still  brilliant  eyes,  and 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  163 

gazed  for  a  moment  in  the  countenance  of  the  judge,  still  re 
taining  his  hand.  ;  Are  you  the  Mr.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  who 
delivered  a  speech  last  session  on  the  subject  of  the  fine  im 
posed  on  me  for  declaring  martial  law  at  New  Orleans  ?'  asked 
General  Jackson. 

"  *  I  have  delivered  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
upon  that  subject,'  was  the  modest  reply  of  our  friend. 

"  *  Then  stop !'  said  General  Jackson.  *  Sit  down  here  be 
side  me.  I  desire  to  return  to  you  my  thanks  for  that  speech. 
You  are  the  first  man  that  has  ever  relieved  my  mind  on  a  sub 
ject  which  has  rested  upon  it  for  thirty  years.  My  enemies 
have  always  charged  me  with  violating  the  Constitution  of  my 
country  by  declaring  martial  law  at  New  Orleans,  and  my 
friends  have  always  admitted  the  violation,  but  have  contended 
that  circumstances  justified  me  in  that  violation.  I  never  could 
understand  how  it  was  that  the  performance  of  a  solemn  duty 
to  my  country — a  duty  which,  if  I  had  neglected,  would  have 
made  me  a  traitor  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man— could  prop 
erly  be  pronounced  a  violation  of  the  Constitution.  I  felt  con 
vinced,  in  my  own  mind,  that  I  was  not  guilty  of  such  a  heinous 
offense  ;  but  I  could  never  make  out  a  legal  justification  of  my 
course,  nor  has  it  ever  been  done,  sir,  until  you,  on  the  floor 
of  Congress,  at  the  late  session,  established  it  beyond  the  pos 
sibility  of  cavil  or  doubt.  I  thank  you,  sir,  for  that  speech. 
It  has  relieved  my  mind  from  the  only  circumstance  that  rested 
painfully  upon  it.  Throughout  my  whole  life  I  never  performed 
an  official  act  which  I  viewed  as  a  violation  of  the  Constitution 
of  my  country ;  and  I  can  now  go  down  to  the  grave  in  peace, 
with  the  perfect  consciousness  that  I  have  not  broken,  at  any 
period  of  my  life,  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  my  country.' 

"  Thus  spoke  the  old  hero,  his  countenance  brightened  by 
emotions  which  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  describe.  We  turned 
to  look  at  Douglas.  He  was  speechless.  He  could  not  reply ; 
but,  convulsively  shaking  the  aged  veteran's  hand,  he  rose  and 
left  the  room.  Certainly,  General  Jackson  had  paid  him  the 
highest  compliment  he  could  have  bestowed  on  any  individual." 

One  of  the  earliest  speeches  delivered  in  the  House  by  Mr. 
Douglas  was  against  the  right  of  the  general  government  to 
prosecute  a  system  of  roads,  and  canals,  and  internal  improve 
ments  in  the  states.  He  has  at  all  times,  however,  maintained 


164  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

the  constitutionality  and  expediency  of  appropriations  by  Con 
gress  for  the  improvement  of  rivers,  harbors,  and  navigable 
waters,  but  subject  to  the  condition,  and  coming  within  the 
principle  laid  down  by  Mr.  Monroe,  and  subsequently  adopt 
ed  by  General  Jackson  in  his  Maysville  Road  veto,  that  the 
appropriations  should  be  for  objects  "  of  general,  not  local — na 
tional,  not  state  benefit."  The  existence  of  the  power  consti 
tuted  no  reason  for  its  abuse ;  nor  was  the  fact  that  it  might 
sometimes  be  abused  a  reason  for  denying  its  existence.  He 
has  voted  for  a  number  of  such  bills,  and  has  not  been  driven 
from  his  assertion  of  the  general  principle  by  the  disregard  which 
he  believes  to  have  been  manifested  toward  the  claims  of  the 
Illinois  River  in  his  own  state.  He  voted  in  favor  of  the  Riv 
er  and  Harbor  Bill  vetoed  by  the  President  during  the  first 
session  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress,  and  he  voted  in  favor  of 
passing  that  bill  into  a  law,  "  the  objections  of  the  President 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  He  continued,  as  he  had 
ever  been,  in  favor  of  giving  adequate  protection  to  our  com 
merce  and  navigation  on  all  our  navigable  waters — the  lakes 
and  rivers  as  well  as  the  ocean.  Nor  could  he  discover  any 
thing  in  the  Veto  Message  of  the  President  to  change  his  opin 
ion.  He  had  no  complaint  to  make  so  far  as  the  principles  of 
the  message  related  to  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress  to 
establish  a  general  system  of  internal  improvements.  He  was 
opposed  to  such  a  system,  and  had  so  avowed  himself  on  sev 
eral  occasions.  He  approved  of  all  the  resolutions  on  the  ex 
tent  of  this  power  imposed  by  General  Jackson  in  his  Mays 
ville  Road  and  Wabash  River  vetoes.  He  approved  of  the  re 
strictions  in  the  messages  of  Madison,  Monroe,  and  Van  Buren. 
He  was  not  willing  to  go  even  as  far  as  many  of  them  went  in 
favor  of  public  works  by  the  general  government.  There  must, 
he  thought,  be  some  restriction,  some  limit  to  the  power,  else 
the  Federal  government  would  swallow  up  all  the  powers  of 
the  states.  He  agreed  with  the  President  that  this  was  a  gov 
ernment  of  limited  powers,  possessing  none  except  those  which 
were  expressly  granted,  or  were  necessary  to  carry  the  enu 
merated  powers  into  effect.  He  was  willing  to  adopt  this  rule 
of  construction  on  rivers  and  harbors,  as  well  as  banks,  tariff, 
distribution,  and  all  the  other  great  measures  of  the  day.  He 
had,  therefore;  no  fault  to  find  with  the  rules  of  construction 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  165 

which  the  President  had  adopted.  The  principles  of  the  mes 
sage,  in  this  respect,  were  sound  and  orthodox.  But  the  diffi 
culty  under  which  Mr.  Douglas  labored  was  to  reconcile  these 
principles  to  the  particular  works  enumerated  in  the  bill.  The 
President  approved  of  a  part  and  disapproved  of  the  residue, 
and  would  be  willing  to  sign  the  unexceptionable  portion  if 
separated  from  the  objectionable  items.  These  items  the  Pres 
ident  had  not  designated,  nor  had  he  furnished  any  means  by 
which  the  good  could  be  distinguished  from  the  evil.  This  was 
a  point  upon  which  there  might  be,  and  no  doubt  was,  great 
variety  of  opinion.  Works  which  one  portion  of  the  country 
might  regard  as  most  important,  others  might  regard  as  the 
least  useful.  As  the  President  had  objected  to  a  part,  and  not 
to  the  whole  of  the  bill,  Mr.  Douglas  thought  it  was  due  to  the 
House  that  the  objectionable  items — those  which,  in  the  Presi 
dent's  opinion,  were  so  hostile  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  security  of  our  institutions,  should  have  been  pointed 
out.  There  were  items  in  the  bill  to  which  Mr.  Douglas  had 
himself  very  strong  objections,  and  which  had  caused  his  sup 
port  of  the  bill  to  be  given  reluctantly.  But  he  was  not  will 
ing,  on  that  account,  to  sacrifice  the  whole  river  and  harbor  in 
terest.  He  had  very  little  personal  knowledge  of  the  merits  of 
the  various  harbors  on  the  lakes  and  Atlantic  which  were  pro 
vided  for  in  the  bill.  He  took  them  on  the  credit  of  the  com 
mittee  which  reported  it,  and  of  the  reports  and  estimates  of 
the  officers  having  them  in  charge.  It  had  been  the  practice 
of  the  government,  from  the  administration  of  Washington  down, 
to  encourage  and  sanction  these  harbor  appropriations.  He  was 
not  prepared  to  abandon  that  policy.  He  did  not  understand 
the  President  as  abandoning  it,  but  as  being  in  favor  of  appro 
priations  for  harbors,  light-houses,  bays,  and  havens,  where 
they  were  necessary  for  the  protection  of  our  commerce  and 
shipping.  Something,  however,  was  said  about  a  distinction 
between  our  foreign  and  internal  commerce,  to  which  Mr.  Doug 
las  could  not  subscribe.  He  did  not  believe  in  any  such  dis 
tinction.  The  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  coun 
tries  and  between  the  several  states  was  conferred  in  the  same 
clause  of  the  Constitution.  He  also  repudiated  the  distinctions 
about  improving  rivers  above  and  below  ports  of  entry.  There 
was  no  reason  for  such  distinction.  If  Congress  had  the  right 


166  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

to  improve  the  river  at  all,  it  had  the  right  to  do  it  above  a 
port  of  entry  or  delivery  as  well  as  below.  He  also  regretted 
the  distinction  attempted  to  be  drawn  in  some  quarters  between 
salt  and  fresh  water,  and  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  tide. 
The  question  should  be  broadly  and  boldly  met,  whether  Con 
gress  has  the  right,  under  the  Constitution,  to  protect  com 
merce  on  our  navigable  ivaters.  If  so,  it  must  apply  to  all 
alike.  The  West  would  never  submit  to  odious  and  unjust 
discriminations,  which  lavished  millions  on  the  sea-board,  and 
excluded  the  lakes  and  rivers  from  all  participation.  They  must 
all  be  placed  on  the  same  footing,  and  share  alike  in  the  favors 
and  burdens  of  government. 

He  voted  in  favor  of  the  Independent  Treasury  Bill,  now  the 
law  of  the  land,  contending  that  the  two  great  leading  and  com 
peting  fiscal  systems — a  National  Bank  and  an  Independent 
Treasury — had  been  distinctly  presented  as  an  issue  to  the 
American  people,  whose  verdict  had  been  given  in  favor  of  the 
latter. 

The  views  of  Mr.  Douglas  on  the  subject  of  the  naturalization 
laws  were  fully  expressed  during  the  last  Congress,  when  certain 
resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Massachu 
setts  for  such  amendments  of  these  laws  as  would  protect  the  bal 
lot-box  and  the  elective  franchise  from  abuses  and  frauds  were 
under  consideration.     We  have  recorded  his  judicial  opinion  in 
another  page.     He  expressed  in  the  House  his  willingness  to 
go  as  far  as  any  man  could  reasonably  desire  in  the  exercise  of 
any  constitutional  privilege  or  power  to  correct  frauds,  not  only 
upon  the  ballot-box,  but  on  the  naturalization  laws,  or  any  othej 
laws  of  the  United  States.     But,  while  he  held  it  a  matter  of 
great  importance  to  guard  the  ballot-box  against  corruption,  he 
believed  it  equally  important  that  Congress  should  refrain  from 
the  exercise  of  powers  which  by  the  Constitution  were  reserved 
to  the  states.     He  conceded  to  Congress  the  fullest  power  to 
establish  naturalization  laws,  but  he  denied  that  naturalization 
included  the  power  of  voting.     The  privileges  of  naturalization 
and  voting,  he  contended,  were  as  entirely  separate  and  dis 
tinct  from  each  other  as  were  the  Federal  and  the  state  gov 
ernments.     Naturalization  did  confer  the  right  of  citizenship, 
and  citizenship  included  the  right  of  protection,  the  right  to  sue 
in  the  courts  in  time  of  war,  the  right  to  hold  real  estate,  to. 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.       167 

receive  property  by  descent,  to  transmit  it,  together  with  va 
rious  other  rights.  This  was  the  extent  of  naturalization,  as 
it  existed  in  England  previous  to  our  separation  from  the  mother- 
country,  and  as  it  existed  here  before  and  at  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution.  The  term  was  then  distinctly  understood. 
It  was  as  clearly  and  accurately  known  by  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution  as  the  term  "  bankruptcy,"  or  "  maritime  juris 
diction,"  or  any  other  legal  term  which  was  inserted  in  the 
Constitution ;  and  when  they  gave  to  Congress  "  power  to  es 
tablish  a  uniform  system  of  naturalization,"  they  used  the  term 
both  in  the  popular  and  legal  sense  which  it  bore  at  the  time. 
This  position  would  be  found  to  be  sustained  by  the  debates 
of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution.  It  would  be 
found  that  a  proposition  was  distinctly  brought  forward  in  the 
Convention  to  establish  uniform  rules  of  voting,  as  well  as  a 
uniform  system  of  naturalization  and  of  bankruptcy.  The 
Convention  deliberately  and  fully  discussed  the  subject,  and 
finally  settled  it,  as  it  now  stood  in  the  Constitution.  They 
found  that,  the  moment  they  entered  on  sueh  a  subject,  innu 
merable  inconsistencies  and  difficulties  presented  themselves, 
which  it  was  impossible  to  reconcile  or  to  remove,  from  the 
fact  that  the  old  thirteen  states  were  each  an  independent  com 
monwealth,  having  a  constitution  and  laws  of  its  own,  and 
each  prescribing  the  qualification  of  voters,  according  to  its  own 
pleasure,  by  enactments  which  were  as  various  and  as  numer 
ous  as  the  states  themselves.  The  result  was  now  found  in 
the  second  section  of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution,  which 
declared  that  "  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed 
of  members  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  sev 
eral  states,  and  the  electors  in  each  state  shall  have  the  qual 
ifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of 
the  State  Legislature." 

The  question  as  to  the  qualifications  for  voting  was  thus  re* 
mitted,  or  rather  reserved,  to  the  states,  each  being  left  to  set 
tle  it  according  to  its  own  views.  That  each  independent  state 
had  a  right,  as  such,  to  prescribe  the  qualifications  of  voters  for 
its  own  Legislature,  was  a  proposition  so  self-evident  that  it  had 
never  been  questioned.  Whenever  the  state  had  exercised  this 
right,  and  had  determined  on  what  condition  its  citizens  should 
vote  for  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  Legislature, 


168  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  Constitution  came  in  and  declared  that  the  same  class  of 
persons  should  be  entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  Congress. 
Whatever  the  state  laws  were  on  the  subject  of  suffrage,  the 
Constitution  adopted  and  confirmed  them.  Congress  might  alter 
the  laws  of  naturalization,  or  might  repeal  them  altogether ; 
they  might  extend  the  period  of  probation  to  twenty-one  years ; 
they  might,  if  they  pleased,  adopt  the  Native  American  creed, 
with  all  its  narrowness,  and  bigotry,  and  selfishness,  and  injus 
tice  ;  but  it  never  could  reach  the  sacred  right  of  suffrage  :  that 
was  reserved  to  the  states.  This  the  states  well  understood ; 
and  they  defied  and  derided  all  attempts  of  the  Native  American 
party  to  interfere  with  or  control  its  exercise.  He  trusted  that 
every  such  attempt  by  the  abuse  of  the  powers  of  Congress 
would  meet  with  the  rebuke  which  it  merited.  The  principle 
was  higher,  and  broader,  and  deeper,  and  of  more  vital  character 
than  any  which  he  had  seen  embodied  in  an  act  of  the  national 
Legislature ;  to  destroy  it  was,  to  strike  at  the  Constitution 
itself. 

He  declined  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  question  whether 
it  would  or  would  not  be  good  policy  to  interfere  with  this 
right,  supposing  Congress  to  possess  the  power.  It  was  one 
of  those  things  which  could  best  be  determined  by  a  regard  to 
local  interests  and  local  circumstances.  States  situated  two 
thousand  miles  from  the  Atlantic,  with  a  sparse  population, 
and  that  population  almost  exclusively  agricultural,  would  nat 
urally  regard  this  matter  in  a  very  different  light  from  those 
situated  on  the  Atlantic  sea-board ;  and  any  rule  constructed 
to  suit  the  latter  only,  would  not  suit  Indiana,  Illinois,  or  Mis 
souri.  And  the  present  state  of  the  question  showed  how  rightly 
the  Convention  had  judged  when  they  determined  to  leave  the 
whole  right  of  franchise  to  the  exclusive  control  of  the  states 
alone,  inasmuch  as  they  could  best  adapt  it  to  the  condition 
and  feelings  of  their  people. 

As  to  the  alleged  connection  of  frauds  on  the  naturalization 
laws  with  the  corruption  of  the  ballot-box,  Mr.  Douglas  insisted 
that  such  an  inquiry  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  powers  of 
the  general  government.  If  the  inquiry  should  elicit  frauds 
ever  so  gross,  Congress  could  not  act  upon  the  matter.  "I 
would  say  to  these  Native  American  gentlemen,"  he  added, 
"  as  I  would  to  the  Abolitionists,  if  you  have  grievances  to  com- 


STEPHEN   ARNOLD  DOUGLAS.  169 

plain  of,  go  to  your  state  Legislatures ;  address  your  petitions 
to  those  who  have  power  to  act  in  the  premises.  If  these  Na 
tives  mean  to  carry  out  their  wholesale  system  of  disfranchise- 
ment,  let  them  turn  their  batteries  against  the  states ;  let 
them  go  there,  where  they  have  a  right  to  be  heard,  but  not 
come  here,  where  there  is  no  jurisdiction,  for  redress." 

Mr.  Douglas  was  among  the  early  and  earnest  advocates  of 
the  annexation  of  Texas ;  and,  after  the  treaty  for  that  object 
had  failed  in  the  Senate,  he  was  one  of  those  who  introduced 
propositions,  in  the  form  of  joint  resolutions,  as  substitute  meas 
ures  for  that  treaty.  The  form  which  the  joint  resolutions  for 
the  admission  of  Texas  finally  took  was,  however,  not  that 
which  Mr.  Douglas  had  proposed.  He  argued  that  if  we  wished 
to  acquire  Texas  without  making  war  or  treaty,  we  must  fall 
back  upon  the  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  provides  u  that 
new  states  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into  the  Union ;" 
and  that  we  must  acquire  the  territory  by  act  of  Congress,  as 
one  of  the  necessary  and  indispensable  means  of  exercising  that 
enumerated  power.  And,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
the  Territories,  at  the  first  session  of  the  last  Congress  he  re 
ported  the  joint  resolution  declaring  Texas  to  be  one  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  admitted  into  the  Union  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  original  states,  in  all  respects  whatever. 

We  also  notice  an  amendment  proposed  by  him  to  the  Bill 
to  provide  for  the  Establishment  of  a  Smithsonian  Institution 
for  the  Increase  and  Diffusion  of  Knowledge  among  Men,  which 
is  as  follows : 

"  That  the  author  or  proprietor  of  any  book,  map,  chart,  mu 
sical  composition,  print,  cut,  or  engraving,  for  which  a  copy 
right  shall  be  secured  under  the  existing  acts  of  Congress,  or 
those  which  shall  hereafter  be  enacted  respecting  copyrights, 
shall,  within  three  months  from  the  publication  of  said  book, 
map,  chart,  musical  composition,  print,  cut,  or  engraving,  de 
liver,  or  cause  to  be  delivered,  one  copy  of  the  same  to  the  li 
brarian  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  and  one  copy  to  the  li 
brarian  of  the  Congress  library,  for  the  use  of  said  libraries." 

The  amendment  was  incorporated  in  the  bill,  which  is  now 
the  law  of  the  land.  A  moment's  reflection  upon  its  results 
will  show  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  this  provision  alone  will 
probably  furnish  a  more  extensive  library  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institute  than  will  be  collected  from  its  own  funds. 


170  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

In  the  measures  which  it  has  adopted  for  the  prosecution  of 
the  war  against  Mexico,  the  administration  has  not  been  able 
to  point  to  the  services  of  a  more  consistent  or  determined  co 
adjutor.  He  has  especially  vindicated  the  action  of  the  gov 
ernment  in  sending  into  the  territory  of  Texas  the  Army  of 
Occupation  under  General  Taylor,  designed  as  a  precautionary 
measure — a  measure  of  defense  against  threatened  hostilities 
of  Mexico,  and  not  designed  to  make  an  aggressive  movement 
against  that  nation.  The  Rio  del  Norte,  he  argued,  was  the 
western  boundary  between  Texas  and  Mexico,  and  had  been  so 
claimed  on  the  one  side,  and  recognized  on  the  other,  ever  since 
the  battle  of  San  Jacinto.  The  State  of  Texas  had  accepted 
the  terms  of  the  joint  resolution  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  union  was  substantially,  and  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  complete,  although  the  formalities  had  not  all  been 
completed.  Texas  was  as  much  entitled  to  the  defense  of  the 
general  government  as  any  state  of  the  Union.  The  compact 
was  formed,  was  irrevocable,  was  binding  upon  every  man  in 
this  Union,  whether  before  that  time  he  was  opposed  to  annex 
ation  or  in  favor  of  it.  Whether  the  compact  was  or  was 
not  complete,  was  immaterial.  If  our  government  had  seen  fit 
to  make  the  proposition  of  annexation  to  Texas,  and  by  that 
means  had  brought  down  upon  her  an  invasion,  it  was  our  duty 
to  defend  her.  The  measure  of  annexation,  he  contended, 
was  one  which  had  worked  out  its  own  vindication  in  all  sec 
tions  of  the  country.  It  had  appealed  to  all  our  interests,  com 
mercial,  agricultural,  and  manufacturing.  It  was  an  impor 
tant  step  toward  driving  Great  Britain  from  the  continent,  and 
which,  in  all  its  results,  would  promote  the  glory  and  honor  of 
the  republic.  In  no  district  in  the  country  could  the  people 
now  be  appealed  to  against  it  with  any  hope  of  success,  unless 
it  was  by  working  upon  their  passions  and  prejudices. 

He  argued  that  for  years  past  we  have  had  ample  cause  of 
war  against  Mexico,  independent  of  the  then  recent  bloody 
transactions  upon  the  Rio  del  Norte.  Aggressions  and  insults ; 
outrages  on  the  national  flag — on  the  persons  and  property  of 
our  citizens  ;  violations  of  treaty  stipulations  ;  murder,  rob 
bery,  and  imprisonment  of  our  countrymen,  made  up  a  cata 
logue  of  wrongs  the  very  recital  of  which  was  sufficient  to  fill 
the  national  heart  with  indignation.  The  weakness,  however, 
and  the  distracted  condition  of  Mexico,  had  softened  our  re- 


STEPHEN  ARNOLD   DOUGLAS.  171 

sentment,  and  induced  us  to  endure  her  aggressions.  These 
insults  and  injuries,  it  was  to  be  borne  in  mind,  were  commit 
ted  before  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States — be 
fore  the  proposition  was  ever  seriously  entertained  by  this  gov 
ernment.  Of  course,  the  subsequent  consummation  of  that 
measure  could  afford  no  pretext  for  atrocities  previously  com 
mitted.  Remuneration  and  satisfaction  had  been  made  to  En 
gland  and  France  for  the  same  injuries  of  which  we  complain, 
where  their  subjects  and  our  citizens  were  common  sufferers. 
Still  the  wrongs  of  our  citizens  remained  unredressed,  and  the 
indignity  to  the  honor  and  flag  of  the  country  unavenged.  Our 
wrongs  were  tenfold  greater  than  theirs  in  number,  enormity, 
and  amount.  Their  complaints  had  been  heard  in  tones  of 
thunder  from  the  mouths  of  their  cannon,  and  had  been  ad 
justed  according  to  the  terms  dictated  by  the  injured  parties. 
The  forbearance  of  our  own  government  to  enforce  our  rights 
by  the  same  efficient  measures  which  they  employed,  had  been 
considered  as  evidence  of  our  imbecility,  giving  impunity  to 
the  past  and  license  to  the  future.  Under  the  operation  of 
these  causes,  our  commerce  with  Mexico  had  dwindled  down 
from  nine  millions  of  dollars  per  annum  to  a  mere  nominal 
sum,  while  that  of  France  and  England  had  steadily  increased, 
until  they  had  secured  a  monopoly  of  the  trade,  and  almost  a 
controlling  influence  over  the  government  of  that  wretched 
country.  Such  was  the  relative  position  of  Mexico  toward  the 
United  States  and  other  countries  when  the  controversy  in  re 
gard  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  arose.  Subsequent  events  he 
traced  as  justifying  the  course  of  our  government.  "We  are 
now,"  he  said,  "  at  war  with  Mexico.  I  trust  our  armies  will 
penetrate  as  far  as  the  capital,  and  capture,  not  only  the  army, 
but  the  government  itself,  in  the  Halls  of  the  Montezumas ; 
that  we  may  make  them  all  prisoners  of  war,  and  keep  them 
in  duress  until  they  shall  make  a  treaty  of  peace  and  boundary 
with  us,  by  which  they  shall  recognize  not  only  the  Rio  del 
Norte,  but  such  other  line  as  we  shall  choose  to  dictate  or  ac 
cept." 

He  opposed  the  incorporation  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso  into  the 
two  and  three  million  bills.  He  believed  the  proper  time  had 
not  come  for  any  action  on  that  subject.  It  was  unnecessary 
at  this  time,  he  argued,  to  agitate  a  question  which,  practical 
ly,  might  never  arise.  Slavery  was  now  prohibited  in  Mex- 


172  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

ico.  If  any  portion  of  that  country  should  be  annexed  to  the 
United  States,  without  any  stipulation  being  made  on  that 
point,  the  existing  laws  would  remain  in  force  so  far  as  they 
were  consistent  with  our  Constitution,  until  repealed  by  com 
petent  authority.  That  authority  must  be  either  Congress  or 
the  people  of  the  territory.  If  Congress,  then  the  North  had 
the  power  in  its  own  hands  ;  if  the  people  of  the  territory,  they 
would  be  left  to  decide  the  question  for  themselves  according 
to  their  own  wishes.  If,  therefore,  we  should  acquire  any  ter 
ritory,  the  North  would  have  as  much  power  over  the  question 
then  as  now.  Why,  then,  hazard  its  acquisition  by  a  contro 
versy  in  advance  as  to  the  disposition  we  should  make  of  it  ? 
If,  however,  the  question  was  pressed  now  for  immediate  de 
cision,  he  could  perceive  no  other  mode  of  harmonizing  con 
flicting  sentiments  but  by  the  adoption  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  Line,  which  he  should  move  as  a  substitute  for  the 
Wilmot  Proviso. 

He  voted  against  the  Trist  treaty  with  Mexico.  It  is  known 
that  he  would  have  done  so  if  his  single  vote  would  have  caused 
its  rejection.  The  injunction  of  secrecy  not  having  been  re 
moved  from  the  executive  proceedings,  we  do  not  feel  at  liberty 
now  to  speak  of  the  reasons  which,  it  is  understood,  have  influ 
enced  his  course. 

Such  is  the  personal  and  political  history  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas.  In  its  rapid  successes — in  its  signal  realization  of 
the  fruits  of  a  steady  enterprise  and  an  honorable  ambition — it 
will  find  nothing  to  surpass  it  in  any  page  that  we  shall  write. 
It  is  its  own  best  commentary.  Personally,  we  have  little 
knowledge  of  him.  Publicly,  we  know  him  as  a  manly  and 
fearless  politician — a  stern,  unflinching  advocate  of  Democratic 
principles ;  never  seeking  a  refuge  from  responsibility,  nor  at 
tempting,  by  sophistry  or  art,  to  elude  the  full  measure  of  its 
consequences.  Those  against  whom  he  may  be  arrayed  know 
that  they  are,  at  least,  pitted  against  a  magnanimous  enemy, 
who  boldly  shows  his  colors  and  resolutely  stands  by  them.  As 
a  debater,  no  man  can  better  "  hold  his  own."  We  have  seen 
him  hawked  at  on  all  sides,  but  we  never  saw  him  lose  the 
knowledge  of  his  position,  nor  be  surprised  into  its  abandon 
ment.  His  style  of  speaking,  always  declamatory,  has,  we 
think,  gained  much  of  late  by  the  more  attempered  tone  and 
manner  which  have  marked  it. 


BIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  ONE  HOUR  RULE. 

W  E  have  persuaded  ourselves  that  the  reader,  with  whom 
we  hope  to  maintain  pleasant  relations  during  the  long  journey 
that  awaits  us,  will  not  frown  upon  us  if  we  loiter  a  few  mo 
ments  by  the  way,  to  give  him  something  like  a  formal  intro 
duction  to  the  ONE  HOUR  RULE.  If  it  can  not  boast,  like 
the  mummy  at  Belzoni's  Exhibition,  of  "  bones,  and  flesh,  and 
limbs,  and  features,"  and  may  not  technically,  therefore,  be 
said  to  have  a  "  biography,"  yet  such  has  been  its  living,  breath 
ing  influence  on  the  nation  and  its  concerns,  that  its  claims  to 
a  niche  in  our  biographical  edifice  are  not  to  be  disregarded. 
Those  claims,  in  our  estimation,  become  paramount  when  we 
reflect  that  we  have  assumed  the  responsibility  of  presenting 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  whom  we  hope  to  reach  as 
well  in  the  busy  haunts  of  men  as  in  the  distant  wilderness,  a 
"  mirror"  of  that  "House"  which  holds  their  liberties  in  its  sa 
cred  keeping,  and  within  whose  walls,  it  has  been  aptly  said, 
"  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  if  destined  to  perish  by  the 
hand  of  the  demagogue  or  the  usurper,  will  breathe  its  last 
agonies." 

Something  of  a  regulated  despotism  there  must  be  in  the 
government  of  all  popular  bodies.  We  state  the  general  propo 
sition,  not  supposing  it  requisite  to  demonstrate  its  truth.  We 
know  that  it  interferes  woefully  with  the  theories  of  the  dream 
er,  and  the  beatific  visions  of  the  men  of  largest  liberty.  We 
regret  it,  but  the  truth  must  be  told.  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  be 
wildered  always  in  the  mazes  of  those  rules  and  orders  of  pro 
ceeding  which  possess  some  power,  but  no  simplicity,  declared 
that  the  parliamentary  law,  as  it  is  called,  was  all  that  was  re 
quired  for  the  House  of  Representatives.  We,  who  have  seen 
that  law  "weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting,"  under 
stand  how  frail  a  reliance  it  is,  especially  in  times  of  political 
excitement.  Let  the  case  of  the  New  Jersey  election,  which 

173 


174  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

put  to  so  severe  a  trial  the  adhesive  properties  of  our  govern 
ment,  testify. 

Those  whom  duty  or  inclination  may  have  led  to  reflect  on 
these  matters  know  that  it  is  much  more  difficult  now  to  gov 
ern  the  representative  body  than  it  was  some  years  ago.  The 
overleaping  progress  of  the  age  has  found  its  way  also  into  this 
department  of  public  affairs.  How  would  the  "  free  and  easy" 
men  of  our  generation  of  legislators  writhe  under  such  a  con 
struction  of  rules  of  order  as,  for  example,  this :  Many  years 
ago,  a  member,  under  the  impulse  of  a  sudden  neuralgic  pain 
in  the  toe,j*aised  his  foot  to  the  corner  of  his  desk,  in  the  hope, 
by  pressure,  to  mitigate  the  suffering.  Quick  as  thought,  the 
speaker  dispatched  a  messenger  to  him,  indicating  the  violation 
of  decorum  implied  in  the  act.  The  member  courteously  ac 
knowledged  the  rebuke  by  a  bow,  which  the  speaker  returned, 
and  so  the  matter  ended.  Peace  to  thy  departed  spirit,  gentle 
member !  Who  should  repose  in  the  bowers  and  shades  of 
Paradise,  if  thou  shouldst  not  ?  Would  that  the  grave  wherein 
thou  liest  "  quietly  inurned"  could  "  burst  its  cerements"  in 
this  latter  day,  that  thou  mightest  be  permitted  to  gaze  upon 
some  of  thy  successors,  and  behold  the  form  and  fashion  which 
they  have  given  to  the  "  rules  and  orders"  of  proceeding ! 

Yet  the  government  of  this  branch  of  Congress  seems  in  all 
time  to  have  been  a  thing  not  very  easy  of  accomplishment ; 
for  it  is  recorded  that,  even  so  far  back  as  the  war  of  1812-15, 
during  the  speaker  ship  of  Henry  Clay,  when  a  proposition  was 
pending  that  the  House  should  march  out  in  a  body  to  meet 
the  enemy,  the  speaker  declared  that  he  should  be  sorry  to  lead 
such  a  disorderly  body  into  battle.  We  have  heard  Caleb 
Gushing  vindicate,  in  a  speech,  the  uproarious  fermentations 
to  which  the  House  was  prone,  regarding  them  as  a  safety- 
valve  for  popular  opinion  and  popular  excitement ;  and  we  have 
heard  him  declare  that  the  scenes  there  enacted  would  com 
pare  favorably  with  those  witnessed  in  the  Chamber  of  Depu 
ties  or  the  House  of  Commons.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we  have 
observed  that  the  House  was  always  best  ruled  by  the  firmest 
speaker.  Men  who  will  scoff  at  his  deputies,  will  respect  pub 
lic  authority  in  him.  If  he  be  a  man  of  firm  nerve,  a  resolute 
will,  a  good  voice,  and  sufficient  amenity  of  general  manner 
not  to  excite  the  suspicions  of  the  fiery  spirits  that  surround 


BIOGRAPHY   OF    THE    ONE   HOUR   RULE.       175 

him  that  he  is  intentionally  a  despot,  it  is  marvelous  at  times 
to  see  how  soon  his  steady  hand  at  the  helm  will  put  the  ship 
to  rights.  Like  the  crew  of  some  glorious  frigate,  the  House 
knows  its  captain,  and  when  his  accustomed  voice  is  heard 
above  the  storm,  the  effect  at  times  is  magical.  The  stern 
brow  is  unknit ;  the  loud,  imperious  tone  of  complaint  or  de 
fiance  hushed;  passions,  hot  enough  for  any  resort,  are  allay 
ed,  and  chaos  is  again  reduced  to  order.  This  is  not  always 
so,  but  we  have  often  seen  it. 

And  now  to  the  ceremonial  of  introduction:  "No  member 
shall  be  allowed  to  speak  more  than  one  hour  to  any  question" 

Such  is  the  comprehensive,  but  peremptory  language  of  the 
One  Hour  Rule.  Many  and  bitter  are  the  lamentations  which 
have  been  poured  forth  against  it.  Indignation,  ridicule,  vitu 
peration,  all  have  been  expended  upon  it  in  vain.  Mr.  Chip- 
man  scouted  it  as  an  intellectual  straight-jacket.  "  No  gen 
tleman,"  he  said,  "  can  acquit  himself  well  in  debate,  wheth 
er  physically  or  intellectually,  while  confined  in  a  straight- 
jacket."  This  proposition,  startling,  though  self-evident  as  it 
was,  seemed  to  take  no  hold  on  the  imagination  of  the  House. 
Nay,  there  were  two  or  three  condensing  Republicans — so  to 
call  them — who  went  so  far  as  to  intimate  that,  in  the  myste 
rious  dispensations  of  Providence,  cases  might  occur  where  a 
straight-jacket,  in  the  most  extensive  sense  of  its  application, 
would  expedite  the  business  of  the  House,  and  promote  the  pub 
lic  interests.  Far  be  from  us  the  thought  of  expressing  an 
opinion  on  so  grave  a  proposition ! 

Mr.  Hilliard  placed  the  rule  in  the  same  category  with  the 
bed  of  Procrustes,  because,  he  said,  "  it  cut  all  to  the  same 
length."  Francis  W.  Pickens,  suddenly  arrested  in  his  aerial 
flight  by  the  fall  of  the  speaker's  hammer,  plucked  his  watch 
from  its  pocket,  and  took  his  seat  with  the  exclamation,  "Bless 
my  soul!  have  I  run  my  race?  This  is  the  most  infamous 
rule  ever  passed  by  any  legislative  body."  Robert  C.  Win- 
throp  spoke  of  it  as  "  the  inexorable  hour  that  must  come  alike 
to  all  in  this  House."  Daniel  D.  Barnard,  in  the  most  eloquent 
satire  upon  its  operation  that  we  have  yet  heard,  said,  "No 
steam-engine  was  ever  supplied  with  a  more  complete  condens 
ing  apparatus  than  this  House  now  is.  It  is  now  understood 
that  a  Congressional  orator  goes  just  one  hour.  You  wind 


176  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

him  up  by  a  parliamentary  law ;  he  rises,  and,  like  the  pointer 
of  a  clock,  describes  his  exact  circuit  on  the  parliamentary  dial- 
plate,  and  then  stops — he  has  run  down.  But  no  matter ; 
there  is  a  great  saving  of  time  in  this ;  and,  besides,  it  is  very 
democratical ;  nobody  can  deny  that.  All  men  are  equal — if 
not,  they  ought  to  be.  That,  I  think,  is  now  the  doctrine.  My 
colleague  over  the  way  (Mr.  M'Keon)  can  tell.  Is  not  this  the 
tendency  of  the  time  ?  Are  not  rail-roads  bringing  down  dis 
tinctions  ?  Why,  a  poor  man  may  now  travel  as  far  and  as 
fast  as  the  rich,  and  make  about  as  much  display  in  doing  so. 
And  so  here :  we  have  come  to  the  end  of  ambitious  displays 
in  oratory  in  this  House  ;  we  have  seen  an  end  of  your  three- 
day  and  your  three-hour  orators ;  we  are  all,  now,  all  one  hour 
orators,  on  a  principle  of  strict  Democratic  equality.  And  we 
carry  our  Democratic  notions  further  still,  for  we  have  dis 
covered  that  subjects  and  topics  are  all  equal,  as  well  as  per 
sons,  and  that,  at  any  rate,  no  subject  is  fit  to  be  brought  be 
fore  this  House  for  consideration  which  a  member  may  not 
dispatch,  in  all  its  merits,  in  one  hour,  while  it  is  very  prop 
erly  taken  for  granted  that  there  is  no  man  on  this  floor  who 
can  not  tell  all  he  knows  on  any  subject  in  one  hour.  Yes,  sir, 
be  it  known  to  all  people,  that  we  here  mount  in  turn,  and  each 
performer  rides  around  the  ring  for  just  one  hour.  And,  of 
course,  he  who  displays  in  that  time  the  greatest  amount  of 
skill,  and  the  greatest  number  of  astonishing  feats  in  jockey- 
ship,  will  be  entitled  to  the  greatest  applause  from  the  whole 
circus,  from  pit  to  gallery. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  now  mounted,  and  off;  but,  be 
fore  I  go,  let  me  say  one  word  more.  I  ride,  because  I  feel 
myself  bound,  in  some  measure,  by  my  original  undertaking, 
to  do  so,  as  one  of  the  troupe,  and  not  because  I  expect  to  win 
any  thing  for  myself,  or  bring  much  golden  profit  to  the  com 
pany." 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  bitter  taunts  and  denuncia 
tions  to  which  the  rule  has  been  exposed,  it  has  "  stood  the 
storm  when  waves  were  rough,"  and  its  attraction,  in  the  eyes 
of  both  parties,  seems  rather  to  have  increased  than  diminished 
with  years.  We  regard  the  recent,  but  fruitless  effort  to  re 
peal  it  as  giving  it  still  deeper  root  in  the  affections  of  all  sides 
of  the  House,  and  as  holding  forth,  therefore,  the  promise  of 


BIOGRAPHY  OF   THE   ONE   HOUR   RULE.        177 

a  still  more  prolonged  existence.  For  our  own  part,  we  are 
strongly  prepossessed  in  its  favor.  It  is  emphatically  demo 
cratic  in  its  operation.  Fifty  members,  or  more,  can  speak  now 
where  ten  or  fifteen  could  speak  before.  It  has  not  only  super 
seded  those  speeches  of  terrible  length,  stretching  "  from  Indus 
to  the  poles,"  which  formerly  monopolized  the  public  time,  and 
set  aside  the  public  business,  but  it  has  accomplished  ends  even 
greater.  In  connection  with  another  kindred  rule,  it  has  gone 
far  toward  abolishing  those  exhausting,  and,  at  times,  almost  ri 
otous  night  sessions,  which  were  once  so  distinguishing  a  char 
acteristic  of  the  popular  body.  We  have  sat  one,  two,  and 
three  days  listening  to  a  single  speech.  Verily,  we  have  done 
so.  A  day  to  a  day  and  a  half  was  a  moderate  allowance.  Men 
of  the  nineteenth  century !  ye  for  whom  steam-engines  and  elec 
tric  telegraphs  are  almost  too  slow,  what  say  ye  ? 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  only  mode  by  which  a  decision 
could  be  obtained  on  any  great  political  question  was  by  a  re 
sort  to  physical  force — not  exactly  to  the  "  wager  of  battle,"  but 
by  testing  which  of  the  two  parties  could  sit  long  enough  to 
weary  out  the  other,  and  thus  force  the  measure  to  its  issue  be 
fore  an  adjournment.  There  was  no  end  to  the  evils  and  abuses 
which  the  old  system  admitted.  Speaking  against  time,  or 
"  speaking  a  measure  to  death,"  as  it  is  called,  was  a  common 
resort.  Now,  every  man  can  speak  against  his  own  hour,  but 
no  longer.  We  have  seen  a  member  who  had  been  so  long  in 
his  seat  that  he  forgot,  in  the  intensity  of  his  weariness,  what 
he  was  voting  upon ;  and  when  it  was  announced  that  a  motion 
had  been  made  to  lay  the  whole  subject  on  the  table,  he  asked, 
in  a  tone  of  heart-rending  despondency,  "  Oh !  what  subject, 
Mr.  Speaker  ?" 

In  one  midnight  session,  when  an  important  bill  was  in  the 
throe  toward  its  passage,  we  recollect  to  have  seen  a  member 
from  the  Southwest  rise  and  commence  a  speech  which,  from 
the  manner  of  its  beginning,  could  scarcely  be  expected  ever  to 
come  to  an  end.  He  said  that  in  the  discussion  of  grave  ques 
tions  of  national  policy,  it  was  sometimes  useful  to  recur  to 
first  principles  ;  and  with  this  view,  coolly  taking  a  small  Bible 
from  his  drawer,  he  began  to  read  it,  commencing  with  the  first 
chapter  in  Genesis.  And  he  read, 

"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth. 

VOL.  I.— M 


178  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  And  the  earth  was  without  form  and  void ;  and  darkness 
was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep." 

A  distinguished  member  from  the  South  here  rose  to  order, 
and  made  the  point  that  the  remarks  of  the  gentleman  were 
irrelevant  and  profane.  The  speaker  ruled  them  out  of  order 
as  irrelevant,  not  profane. 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  remark,  that  to  have 
excluded  this  course  of  argument  as  "  profane,"  would  have 
been  to  establish  a  precedent  likely  to  cut  in  more  directions 
than  one.  Many  of  us  remember  that  Mr.  Adams,  during  the 
Oregon  debate,  laid  the  foundation  of  our  title  to  that  territory 
in  those  "first  principles,"  contained  in  that  very  book  from 
which  the  member  was  now  quoting. 

"  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Adams,  "  there  has  been  so  much  said  on 
the  question  of  title  in  this  case,  that  I  believe  it  would  be  a 
waste  of  time  for  me  to  say  any  thing  more  about  it,  unless  I 
refer  to  a  little  book  you  have  there  upon  your  table,  which 
you  sometimes  employ  to  administer  a  solemn  oath  to  every 
member  of  this  House  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  If  you  have  it,  be  so  good  as  to  pass  it  to  the  clerk, 
and  I  will  ask  him  to  read  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  founda 
tion  of  our  title. 

"  If  the  clerk  will  be  so  good  as  to  read  the  twenty-sixth, 
twenty-seventh,  and  twenty-eighth  verses  of  the  first  chapter 
of  feenesis,  the  committee  will  see  what  I  consider  to  be  the 
foundation  of  the  title  of  the  United  States." 

The  clerk  accordingly  read  as  follows : 

"  26.  And  God  said,  Let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our 
likeness ;  and  let  them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea, 
and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all 
the  earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the 
earth. 

"  27.  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image ;  in  the  image 
of  God  created  he  him ;  male  and  female  created  he  them. 

"  28.  And  God  blessed  them,  and  God  said  unto  them,  Be 
fruitful,  and  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it ; 
and  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl 
of  the  air,  and  over  every  living  thing  that  moveth  upon  the 
earth." 

"  That,  sir,"  continued  Mr.  Adams,  "  in  my  judgment,  is  the 


BIOGRAPHY   OF   THE    ONE   HOUR    RULE.       179 

foundation  of  our  title,  not  only  to  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  but 

the  foundation  of  all  human  title  to  all  human  possessions." 
********* 

"  I  will  ask  the  clerk  to  read  another  passage  of  that  book ; 
and  that  is,  I  think,  the  eighth  verse  of  the  second  Psalm." 

The  clerk  read : 

"  8.  Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine 
inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  pos 
session." 

"  If  the  clerk  will  read  a  verse  or  two  before  that  which  he 
has  just  read,  it  will  be  seen  to  whom  it  is  said  He  will  give 
them." 

The  clerk  read : 

"  6.  Yet  have  I  set  my  king  upon  my  holy  hill  of  "Zion. 

"  7.  I  will  declare  the  decree :  the  Lord  hath  said  unto  me. 
Thou  art  my  son ;  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee. 

"  8.  Ask  of  me,  and  I  shall  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine 
inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  pos 
session." 

"  That,"  continued  Mr.  Adams,  "  is  the  personage  to  whom 
the  promise  was  made  of  giving  the  heathen  for  his  inherit 
ance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession. 
Now,  the  promise  contained  in  that  verse  was  understood  by 
all  commentators  upon  the  Bible,  and  by  the  Christian  nations 
of  all  denominations,  certainly  before  the  reformation  of  Lu 
ther,  to  apply  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Then,  sir,  without 
entering  into  any  long  historical  detail,  by  the  Christians  and 
Christian  nations  (for  I  speak  now  of  international  law),  the 
pope,  or  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  was  considered  as  the  represent 
ative  of  Christ  upon  earth  ;  and  this  verse  from  the  Psalm, 
promising  the  heathen  for  his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession,  together  with  another  verse 
at  the  close  of  one  of  the  Gospels  (which  I  will  not  detain  the 
committee  by  asking  the  clerk  to  read),  in  which  the  Lord  Je 
sus  Christ,  after  rising  from  the  dead,  said  to  his  disciples  (in 
substance),  '  Go  forth  and  preach  to  all  nations  my  Gospel ; 
and  I  will  be  with  you  to  the  end  of  the  world ;'  from  these 
three  several  passages  of  the  Scriptures,  I  say,  the  Pope  of  Rome 
asserted,  and  for  many  ages  it  was  admitted,  that  he  had  the 
power  of  giving  to  any  king  or  sovereign  to  whom  he  pleased, 


180  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  power  of  going  and  subduing  all  barbarous  nations,  and  sub 
duing  and  conquering  all  territory,  either  not  subdued  at  all, 
or  subdued  by  barbarous  nations,  for  the  purpose  of  converting 
them  to  Christianity.     At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  con 
tinents  of  North  and  South  America  by  Christopher  Columbus, 
this  was  the  law  of  nations  between  Christians,  recognized, 
acknowledged,   admitted ;    and  when  Christopher  Columbus 
came,  under  a  commission  from  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  King 
and  Queen  of  Castile,  Leon,  and  Arragon — when  he  came  and 
made  his  discovery,  which  he  did  in  October,  1492,  in  the  next 
year,  some  time  in  the  month  of  March  or  April,  1493,  the 
Pope  of  Rome — at  that  time  authorized  according  to  interna 
tional  law  between  Christians  to  do  it — gave  to  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  the  whole  continents  of  North  and  South  America. 
He  authorized  the  drawing  of  a  line  from  pole  to  pole,  one  hun 
dred  leagues  west  of  the  Azores  Islands  and  Cape  de  Verde  ; 
and  he  gave  the  whole  one  hundred  leagues  beyond,  from  pole 
to  pole,  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.     Now,  do  I  intend  to  say 
that  that  is  one  of  our  titles  ?     I  must  say  it,  although  I  think, 
perhaps,  as  little  of  it  as  any  member  of  this  House.     But  it 
was  a  good  title  when  it  was  given.     It  was  the  understand 
ing,  the  faith,  the  belief  of  all  the  Christian  nations  of  Europe, 
that  the-pope  had  this  power ;  and  it  was  acquiesced  in  by  them 
all  for  a  time.     That  same  pope,  at  that  time,  was  in  the  cus 
tom  of  giving  away,  not  only  barbarous  nations,  but  civilized 
nations.     He  dethroned  sovereigns,  put  them  under  interdict, 
and   excommunicated  them  from  intercourse  with   all  other 
Christians ;  and  it  was  submitted  to.     And  now,  sir,  the  gov 
ernment  of  Great  Britain — the  nation  of  Great  Britain — holds 
the  island  of  Ireland  on  no  other  title.     Three  hundred  years 
before  that  time,  Pope  Adrian  of  Rome  gave,  by  that  same 
power,  to  Henry  the  First  of  England,  the  island  of  Ireland, 
and  England  has  held  it  from  that  day  to  this  under  that  title, 
and  no  other  ;  that  is,  no  other,  unless  by  conquest  (for  it  has 
been  in  a  continued  state  of  rebellion  ever  since,  and  Great 
Britain  has  been  obliged  to  conquer  it  half  a  dozen  times  since  ; 
and  now  the  question  is,  whether  Ireland  shall  ever  become  an 
independent  kingdom.     If  we  come  to  a  war  with  Great  Brit 
ain,  she  will  find  enough  to  do  to  maintain  that  island) ;  I  do  not 
think  it  of  very  great  value,  though  I  think  it  does  not  go  for 


BIOGRAPHY  OF   THE   ONE   HOUR   RULE.       181 

nothing.  Now  that  general  authority  given  to  man  to  in 
crease,  multiply,  and  replenish  the  earth,  and  subdue  it,  was  a 
grant  from  the  Creator  to  man  as  man ;  it  was  a  grant  to  ev* 
ery  individual  of  the  human  race  in  his  individual  capacity. 
But,  then,  the  portion  that  belongs  to  the  individual,  and  was 
given  thereby,  was  a  matter  for  the  whole  human  race  to  ac 
commodate  among  themselves  ;  that  is  to  say,  in  communities, 
communities  were  to  agree  together  what  should  be  the  metes 
and  bounds  of  that  portion  of  the  earth  given  them  by  the  gen 
eral  grant  from  the  Creator.  When  communities  were  formed, 
it  became  a  matter  of  legislation  among  them  to  whom  any 
particular  property — i.  e.,  a  lot  of  land  on  which  to  build  a  house 
— should  belong.  Any  territorial  right  whatever,  as  between 
individuals,  was  to  be  regulated  by  legislation ;  as  between  na 
tions,  it  was  to  be  regulated  by  consent — by  convention ;  and  in 
that  way  the  laws  of  nations,  as  they  are  called  (which  are 
nothing  more  than  the  customs  of  nations),  and  the  treaties 
and  conventions  of  nations,  have  regulated  how  every  spot,  ev 
ery  inch  of  land,  shall  be  occupied.  And,  among  the  rest,  it  is 
by  these  laws  and  regulations — internal  among  communities, 
and  international  among  nations — that  you  hold  that  seat  (re- 
ferring  to  the  speaker's  chair),  and  I  do  not,  because  you  have 
it,  elevated  to  it  by  the  laws  of  the  country,  and  no  other  man 
can  take  it,  except  by  permission,  so  long  as  your  right  contin 
ues.  Well,  sir,  our  title  to  Oregon  stands  on  the  same  founda 
tion.  When  this  discovery  of  Columbus  came  to  be  a  matter 
of  great  importance  among  the  nations,  of  the  earth,  other  na 
tions  took  it  into  their  heads  to  plant  colonies  on  this  continent, 
and  then  came  the  questions  of  controversy  between  them  which 
never  have  been  settled  to  this  day.  Our  question  now  with 
Great  Britain  is  one  of  the  consequences  of  that  state  of  things. 
There  never  has  been  any  agreement  between  the  nations  of 
the  earth  how  these  points  shall  be  settled." 

We  have  been  led  into  this  digression  partly  from  a  desire 
to  show  how  many  legislative  arguments  might  have  been  de 
clared  "profane,"  if  the  speaker  had,  in  that  aspect,  sustained 
the  point  of  order,  and  partly  because  we  thought  that  there 
were  many  readers  to  whom  a  train  of  reasoning  so  curious, 
and  from  such  a  source,  might  not  be  uninteresting. 

We  knew  a  venerable  man — now  resting  in  his  narrow  bed 


182  Hi  STORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

— a  member  of  the  Convention  to  reform  the  Constitution  of 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  who  kept  a  large  family  Bible  ever 
by  his  side,  ready  for  all  emergencies,  precisely  as  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  would  keep  Jefferson's  Manual. 
He  had  Scripture  arguments  and  quotations  at  hand,  applicable 
to  the  minutest  item  of  the  fundamental  law.  He  fell  into  the 
grave  error  of  supposing  that  every  member  of  the  body  was 
as  familiar  with  chapter  and  verse  as  himself,  and  would  some 
times,  in  the  heat  of  debate,  place  his  nearest  neighbors  in  an 
awkward  dilemma  on  that  account.  "  Where,"  said  he,  on  one 
occasion,  ' '  will  you  find  a  general  like  unto  Joshua  ?  or  what 
weapons  of  war  can  we  boast,  which  will  produce  wonders  so 
great  as  those  which  the  eyes  of  men  beheld  when  the  walls 
of  Jericho  fell  before  the  blast  of  a  ram's  horn  ?  Mr.  Ingersoll, 
give  me  the  chapter,  that, I  may  read  it." 

But  to  return.  The  remarks  of  the  gentleman  having  been 
ruled  out  of  order,  the  usual  motion  was  put  that  he  have  leave 
to  proceed ;  and  the  House,  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  accorded 
it.  The  Western  member,  obviously  taken  by  surprise  at  the 
sweeping  nature  of  the  vote  in  his  favor,  declared,  in  the  most  sol- 
emn  manner,  that  up  to  that  hour  he  had  entertained  no  idea  of 
his  own  popularity ',  and  that  the  best  return  he  could  make  to 
the  House  for  the  compliment  it  had  paid  him  was  to  trespass 
no  longer  on  its  attention.  So  he  took  his  seat,  amid  much  mer 
riment  and  loud  calls  to  order,  protesting  against  the  construc 
tion  of  profaneness  put  upon  his  remarks,  and  declaring  his  in 
tention  to  write  them  out  for  the  benefit  of  his  constituents. 

Such  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  One  Hour  Rule.  Un 
doubtedly  there  are  cases  in  which  an  extension  of  time  might 
be  useful  and  proper.  They  are  not  numerous.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  instances  where  even  the  hour  hangs  heavily  on 
the  member's  hands.  It  has  come  to  be  something  of  a  point 
of  honor  to  speak  out  the  full  time  ;  but  we  have  known  mem 
bers  sorely  pressed  to  do  so.  We  have  seen  them  ever  and  anon 
turn  round  and  look  wistfully  at  the  clock,  and  then  at  their 
own  watches,  as  though  to  say,  "  Gallop  apace,  ye  fiery-footed 
steeds,  to  Pho3bus's  mansion.  Oh  !  that  my  hour  were  come." 
The  softest  music  that  ever  floated  on  the  summer  breeze  would 
not  be  half  so  sweet  a  melody  to  them  as  the  descent  of  the  speak 
er's  hammer,  indicating,  by  its  harsh  monotone,  that  they  might 


BIOGRAPHY  OF   THE   ONE   HOUR   RULE.        183 

rest  from  their  labors.  Yet,  in  the  midst  of  these  mute  invoca 
tions  to  Time,  they  will  not  fail  to  begin  and  end  their  speeches 
with  a  protest  against  that  infringement  of  the  freedom  of  debate, 
which,  they  say,  is  unconstitutionally  decreed  against  them. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  this  rule  has  been  introduced  into 
some  of  the  courts  of  Pennsylvania,  not  made  applicable,  indeed, 
to  important  cases,  but  to  such  as  belong  to  current  business, 
in  which  no  great  principles  are  involved,  and  where  there  are 
no  papers  or  documents  to  be  read.  And  it  has  been  said  that 
Alexander  Hamilton  and  Aaron  Burr,  who,  half  a  century  ago, 
were  the  leading  advocates  of  the  New  York  bar,  never  spoke 
more  than  one  hour. 

The  rule  first  took  its  station  among  the  standing  orders  of 
the  House  on  the  7th  of  July,  1841,  on  a  motion  to  that  effect 
made  by  Lott  Warren,  of  Georgia.  But  a  commentator,  now 
in  his  grave,  possessing  during  his  life  more  studied  information 
on  these  matters  than  perhaps  any  cotemporary — Colonel  Sam 
uel  Burche — remarks :  "  Although  this  was  not  finally  adopted 
as  a  rule  of  the  House  until  the  7th  of  July,  1841,  motions  had 
been  made  to  the  same  effect  for  about  twenty  years  preceding." 

The  kindred  rule  to  which  we  have  alluded  is  that  which 
gives  to  a  majority  of  the  House  power  to  terminate  debate,  in 
committee,  on  any  pending  bill,  thus  answering  to  what  is 
called  "  the  previous  question"  in  the  House.  It  has  more  con 
centrated  despotism  about  it  than  its  mate,  the  One  Hour  Rule. 
Its  potent  influence  has,  however,  been  invoked  by  both  parties ; 
and  there  is  not  a  charge  of  arbitrary  resort  to  it,  which  one 
party  can  bring  against  the  other,  which  that  other  may  not  re 
tort  with  accumulated  force.  It  is  but  one  day  older  than  its 
brother,  having  been  adopted  on  the  sixth  of  July,  1841.  It  was 
reported  from  a  select  committee,  which  had  been  appointed  on 
the  rules,  and  of  which  Mr.  Calhoun,  of  Massachusetts,  was 
chairman.  These  measures  form  a  material  portion  of  that  pow 
erful  machinery  commonly  designated  "  The  Screws" — an  in 
fluential  family,  to  some  other  branches  of  which  we  may  here 
after  pay  our  respects. 


BLANCHARD,  JOHN. 

A.  GLANCE  at  the  worn  features  and  bent  form  of  this  gen 
tleman,  as  they  presented  themselves  to  the  eye  during  the  first 
session  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress,  would  have  convinced  an 
ordinary  observer  that  he  would  soon  be  beyond  the  reach  of 
any  living  biography  which  we  could  write.  With  the  mem 
bers  of  that  Congress,  King  Death  had  made  notably  merry.  A 
thorough-bred  leveler,  he  had  paid  his  respects  to  them  "  with 
out  distinction  of  party,"  scattering,  as  stubble  before  the  wind, 
the  deep-laid  schemes  of  the  politicians,  and  leaving  the  "  un 
finished  business,"  of  which  the  rules  are  so  tender,  to  take 
care  of  itself.  An  uninvited,  yea,  and  an  unwelcome  guest, 
he  had  intruded  even  into  chambers  "  where  statesmen  play 
their  high  chess  game,  whereof  the  pawns  are  men."  Some 
thing  more  than  his  wonted  annual  sacrifices  the  grim  old  au 
tocrat  had  exacted.  Perhaps — God  knows — to  show  us  how 
easy  was  the  access  to  his  terrible  kingdom,  without  a  prepar 
atory  sail  up  the  Columbia  River,  or  even  a  march  "to  the 
Halls  of  the  Montezumas !"  How  many  more  victims  the  des 
pot  might  have  claimed  if  the  law  had  not  prescribed  a  definite 
period  to  the  deliberations  of  the  two  bodies,  it  lies  not  within 
our  limited  vision  to  foresee  ;  but  high  on  the  list  of  those  whose 
presence  was  demanded  in  his  imperial  court,  "  pricked  to  die," 
like  certain  Romans  "  in  the  black  sentence  and  proscription" 
of  Mark  Antony,  seemed  the  name  of  John  Blanchard,  of  Penn 
sylvania.  He  looked  as  "if  any  man  might  have  bought  the 
fee-simple  of  his  life  for  an  hour  and  a  quarter."  Yet,  late  one 
night,  he  took  the  floor,  feeble  as  he  was,  and  forthwith  threw 
the  House  into  such  a  roar  of  laughter  at  the  jokes  he  rolled 
out  in  quick  succession,  as  almost  to  leave  the  impression  that 
there  must  have  been  something  like  a  feint  in  those  infirm 
limbs  and  that  tottering  gait  which  so  hardly  seemed  to  support 
.him.  From  that  moment  we  classed  him  among  the  living. 
184 


JOHN   BLANCHARD.  185 

We  knew  that  he  could  not  die.  The  thing  was  impossible. 
Whether  our  prophetic  givings  out  have  had  any  agency  in  his 
restoration,  we  scarcely  feel  authorized  to  say ;  but  that  he  is 
better,  and  likely  to  live,  let  these  pages  bear  witness. 

He  was  born  in  the  township  of  Peacham,  in  the  county  of 
Caledonia,  Vermont,  on  the  30th  of  September,  1787.  His  fa 
ther  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  the  town,  and  was  fortunate 
enough  to  locate  himself  in  the  center  of  the  township.  An 
academy  was  erected  on  his  land,  within  a  short  distance  of  his 
dwelling.  In  his  youth,  John  worked  on  the  farm  in  the  sum 
mer,  and  went  to  school  in  the  winter ;  but,  his  father  being 
an  uneducated  man,  who  did  not  believe  in  the  advantages  of 
a  collegiate  education,  his  schooling  was  confined  to  the  En 
glish  branches.  Soon  after  the  academy  had  been  erected,  a 
printing-office  was  started  in  the  village,  near  his  father's  resi 
dence,  and  a  newspaper  was  issued,  through  the  medium  of 
which  he  became  early  familiar  with  the  political  topics  of  the 
day,  and  with  the  characters  of  the  leading  politicians  of  the 
country  and  of  the  distinguished  men  of  the  Revolution.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  about  fifteen  years  of  age,  leaving  a 
family  of  seven  children,  five  of  them  younger  than  himself. 
John  was  then  compelled  to  labor  on  the  farm,  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  the  family  together,  until  he  was  nineteen  or  twen 
ty  years  of  age,  teaching  school  at  intervals  in  the  winter. 
Having  resolved,  however,  to  obtain  a  collegiate  education,  he 
prepared  himself  for  the  sophomore  class  in  Dartmouth  College. 
He  was  admitted  a  student  in  the  fall  of  1809,  and  graduated 
in  August,  1812.  He  then  removed  to  York,  Pennsylvania, 
was  engaged  as  a  teacher  in  an  academy  there,  and  at  the  same 
time  read  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  immediately 
left  that  place,  and  came  to  Lewistown,  Mifflin  county,  Penn 
sylvania.  He  remained  there  until  the  fall  of  1815,  when  he 
removed  to  Bellefonte,  Centre  county,  his  present  residence. 
Here  he  has  had  the  benefit  of  as  lucrative  a  practice  as  most 
of  the  lawyers  in  that  judicial  district.  We  have  heard  him 
state,  that  at  the  time  he  left  Vermont  for  the  purpose  of  ob 
taining  a  collegiate  education,  he  was  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  in  debt,  which  amount  he  paid  out  of  his  earnings  as  a 
school-teacher  in  York.  In  1820  he  married  Mary  Miles, 
daughter  of  Evan  Miles,  of  Centre  county,  Pennsylvania,  and 
has  two  sons  living. 


186  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

He  was  brought  up  a  Federalist  in  principle,  although  he  had 
taken  no  part  in  politics,  nor  ever  exercised  the  right  of  suf 
frage  until  he  resided  in  Bellefonte.  He  supported  John  Q. 
Adams  for  President  in  opposition  to  Andrew  Jackson,  and  in 
1832,  after  the  latter  had  vetoed  the  bill  for  the  recharter  of 
the  United  States  Bank,  he  took  a  very  active  part  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Whig  party.  In  1844  he  was  nominated  by  that 
party  for  Congress,  and  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  343,  to 
represent  the  seventeenth  district,  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Huntington,  Centre,  Juniata,  and  Mifflin ;  and  in  1846  he 
was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  650  votes. 

The  delicate  state  of  his  health  has  rendered  him  rather  a 
looker-on  than  a  participant  in  the  proceedings  of  the  House 
beyond  the  duty  of  voting  and  a  strict  attention  to  the  more 
immediate  concerns  of  his  own  constituents.  During  one  pe 
riod  of  his  life — from  1834  to  1839 — he  was  so  afflicted  with 
sickness  as  to  be  unable  to  attend  to  his  profession.  From 
1840  to  the  present  time  he  has  been  in  comparative  health, 
though  sometimes  very  delicate.  He  writes :  "  I  never  expect 
to  be  restored  to  full  strength  and  vigor.  You  have  been  a 
witness  of  my  bodily  weakness.  At  present,  however,  I  am 
well  for  me" 

The  speech  to  which  we  have  adverted,  and  which  is  the  only 
one  we  remember  to  have  heard  from  him,  was  in  favor  of  the 
tariff  of  1842.  He  has  openly  and  boldly  avowed  his  political 
sentiments.  He  has  endeavored,  by  every  means  in  his  power, 
to  promote  the  protective  policy,  and  the  principles  of  the  Whig 
party  generally.  With  that  party  in  Congress  he  has  uniform 
ly  acted. 


MACLAY,  WILLIAM   BROWN, 

J.  S  among  the  youngest  members  of  the  thirtieth  Congress.  He 
was  born  in  1815,  in  that  portion  of  the  city  of  New  York  com 
prised  within  the  limits  of  the  district  which  he  now  represents, 
and  from  which  he  was  elected  in  1842,  immediately  after  the 
state  became  divided  into  Congressional  Districts,  in  conformity 
with  the  law  of  Congress  of  that  year.  [See  title,  HOWELL 
COBB.] 

He  is  the  son  of  the  Reverend  Archibald  Maclay,  a  venera 
ble  clergyman  of  the  Baptist  denomination — favorably  known  to 
many  of  our  readers — a  Scotchman  by  birth,  who  emigrated  to 
the  United  States  in  the  year  1804.  He  preached  to  one  con 
gregation  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  long  period  of  thirty- 
five  years,  when,  to  the  regret  of  all  his  flock,  and  against  their 
earnest  desires,  he  retired  from  the  Church  to  take  upon  him 
self  the  duties  of  another  very  laborious  and  responsible  station. 
During  the  thirty-five  years  of  his  ministry,  he  united  in  the 
bonds  of  matrimony  upward  of  ten  thousand  persons. 

On  his  retirement  from  this  ministerial  station,  he  accepted 
the  office  of  general  agent  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  which  he  still  holds.  He  is  now  seventy-two  years  of 
age,  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  mental  and  bodily  faculties.  During 
the  last  year,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  he  traversed,  on 
horseback,  a  distance  of  some  four  or  five  thousand  miles.  The 
remarkable  preservation  of  his  life,  while  on  his  business  trav 
els  two  years  ago,  is  worthy  of  record,  and  is  thus  stated  by 
himself : 

"  The  steamer  Bellezane,  of  Zanesville,  Ohio,  left  that  place 
for  New  Orleans :  she  ran  on  a  snag  on  the  18th  instant,  about 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  five  miles  below  the  mouth  of  White 
River,  and  about  fifteen  above  the  mouth  of  Arkansas  River. 

"  Nearly  all  the  passengers  were  asleep  at  the  time  she  struck 
upon  the  snag,  which  went  completely  through  her  bottom. 

187 


188  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

She  careened  first  on  the  one  side  and  then  on  the  other  ;  the 
boilers  rolled  off,  which  righted  her  a  little,  and  the  vessel  then 
went  completely  over  on  her  side  and  filled  with  water.  I  was 
asleep  when  she  struck,  but  was  roused  by  the  shock  and  the 
rolling  of  the  empty  barrels  on  the  hurricane  deck  into  the 
river.  I  instantly  sprang  from  my  berth.  The  vessel  gave  a 
heavy  lurch,  the  water  rushing  in  at  the  same  time  up  to  my 
chest.  I  struggled  across  the  cabin  floor,  and,  aided  by  the  han 
dle  of  the  door  between  the  ladies'  cabin  and  ours,  I  reached  the 
state-room  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  boat,  and,  as  both  doors 
were  providentially  open,  I  passed  through  them  to  the  outside  ; 
the  boat  was  then  on  her  beam  ends.  The  scene  was  truly 
awful ;  the  night  was  intensely  cold,  and  those  who  had  es 
caped  immediate  death  were  clustered  together  on  the  wreck, 
destitute  of  clothing,  bareheaded  and  barefooted.  The  hurricane 
deck  separated  from  the  cabin,  and  the  captain  and  four  others 
floated  ashore  on  it.  Three  of  these  were  frozen  to  death. 

"  The  hull  of  the  boat  became  detached  from  the  cabin,  and 
turned  bottom  up ;  fifteen  of  the  passengers  climbed  upon  the 
hull  and  were  saved.  Some  of  the  passengers  clung  to  the  side 
of  the  cabin,  and  were  taken  off  by  a  small  boat.  I  floated  with 
others  on  a  portion  of  the  wreck  about  ten  miles  down  the  river, 
near  Napoleon,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River.  From 
some  of  the  berths,  which  constituted  a  portion  of  the  wreck  we 
were  on,  a  few  quilts  were  obtained.  I  gave  a  mattress  which 
I  had  procured  to  Mr.  Chapman,  who  had  the  child  of  Captain 
Hins  in  his  arms.  I  put  the  mattress  over  him  and  the  child. 
With  some  difficulty  I  obtained  another;  but  a  planter  from 
Kentucky,  whose  name,  I  think,  was  Burns,  suffered  excessively 
from  the  cold,  and,  being  in  danger  of  freezing  to  death,  I  gave 
up  to  him  the  second  mattress.  I  remained  afterward  four 
hours  on  the  wreck.  Some  of  the  boat's  crew,  who  had  reached 
the  shore,  obtained  a  small  boat  and  came  to  our  relief.  The 
ladies  were  very  properly  first  taken  from  the  wreck.  I  was 
brought  to  the  shore  with  Mr.  Burns,  the  planter  before  men 
tioned,  who  had  suffered  so  much  from  the  cold.  Almost  the 
instant  we  had  reached  the  shore,  he  gave  one  groan  and  ex 
pired.  Colonel  Rives,  a  relative  of  Mr.  Rives,  of  Washington, 
was  on  board  of  the  steamer,  and  was  the  first  man  that  reached 
the  shore.  He  possesses  great  energy  of  character,  and  was  ex- 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  189 

ceedingly  kind  and  attentive  to  me  and  the  rest  of  the  passen 
gers.  He  traveled  along  the  shore  through  ±he  woods  a  num 
ber  of  miles,  and  obtained  a  small  boat,  and  came  to  the  wreck 
as  the  last  of  the  passengers  were  taken  off. 

"  We  walked  about  a  mile  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Cook,  an  over 
seer  to  Mr.  Hibbard,  of  Napoleon,  by  whom  we  were  received 
and  treated  with  the  utmost  kindness.  Judge  Sutton  and  other 
citizens  came  from  Napoleon,  and  tendered  us  every  assistance 
that  our  wants  required.  The  captain  states  that  there  were 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  passengers :  sixty-five  were  lost ; 
four  of  the  number  were  frozen  to  death.  I  attribute  my  pow 
ers  of  endurance  (sufficiently  put  to  the  test  on  this  terrible 
night)  to  my  constitution  and  temperate  habits.  I  have  lost 
my  watch,  money,  clothing,  &c.,  but  my  life  has  been  gra 
ciously  spared. 

u  During  the  four  hours  I  was  on  the  wreck  I  spent  most  of 
the  time  in  mental  prayer,  and  was  resigned  and  composed.  I 
would  with  gratitude  raise  another  Ebenezer,  and  say,  '  Hith 
erto  hath  the  Lord  helped  me:  what  shall  I  render  unto  God 
for  all  his  mercies  toward  me.'  I  am  at  the  house  of  Cornelius 
Paulding,  Esq.,  who  has  always  exhibited  toward  me  much 
kindness  and  Christian  sympathy,  and  has,  if  possible,  on  this 
occasion,  manifested  more  kindness  to  me  than  ever." 

The  following  letter  from  the  same  source,  embodying  per 
sonal  recollections  of  "  Old  Mortality,"  possesses  much  interest : 

"  I  accompanied  my  son-in-law  on  a  visit  to  Laurel  Hill,  a 
large  public  cemetery  in  the  environs  of  Philadelphia,  to  which 
visiters  are  attracted  by  the  beautiful  land  and  water  views 
with  which  Nature  has  surrounded  the  spot,  and  also  by  the 
many  marble  monuments  of  different  form,  sculpture,  and  in 
scription,  which,  though  they  can  not  '  back  to  its  mansion  call 
the  fleeting  breath,'  can  yet  express  the  virtues  of  the  dead  and 
the  affection  of  the  living,  and,  impressing  with  renewed  force 
the  afflicted  Christian  parent  or  child  with  the  vanity  of  all 
things  earthly,  direct  them  for  consolation  to  a  city  which  hath 
foundations  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  The  propriety 
of  such  places  of  interment  in  the  vicinity  of  our  cities,  yet  suf 
ficiently  removed  from  the  changes  of  a  progressive  population, 
is  evident,  whether  reference  be  made  to  those  for  whom  they 
are  designed,  or  to  those  who  are  so  soon  to  follow  them.  It 


190  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS, 

accords  with  the  best  medical  opinions,  and,  above  all,  with  that 
sentiment  which  may  indeed  be  said  to  find  an  echo  in  every 
human  bosom,  which  condemns  as  infamous  a  desecration  of  the 
sanctuary  of  the  dead,  or  a  violation  of  what  was  once  the  tem 
ple  of  an  immortal  spirit. 

"  The  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the  relations  between  the 
present  and  the  future  state,  as  unfolded  in  revelation,  give  to 
the  subject  all  its  sacredness  in  the  view  of  the  believer ;  but 
even  to  minds  upon  which  the  light  of  the  Gospel  never  shone, 
it  was  invested  with  an  interest  at  once  awful  and  tender.  In 
one  of  the  most  barbarous  islands  in  the  Southern  Seas,  contend 
ing  savages  proclaimed  a  truce  to  hostilities  upon  approaching 
the  mound  which  indicated  the  narrow  house  appointed  for  all 
living ;  and,  among  the  untaught  Indians  of  our  forest,  he  was 
considered  accursed  who  despoiled  the  body,  placed  upon  the 
rude  scaffolding  erected  upon  piles,  and  shrouded  in  the  richest 
furs.  The  historian  has  pathetically  told  us  that  the  Chippewa 
mother  would  not  bury  her  new-born  infant  upon  these  scaffolds, 
but  by  the  way  side,  that  its  spirit  might  secretly  steal  into  the 
bosom  of  some  passing  matron,  and  be  born  again  under  happier 
auspices.  i  I  know  my  daughter  will  be  restored  to  me,'  she 
once  said,  as  she  clipped  a  lock  of  hair  as  a  memorial ;  *  by  this 
lock  of  hair  I  shall  discover  her,  for  I  shall  take  it  with  me :' 
alluding  to  the  period  when  she,  too,  with  her  carrying-belt  and 
paddle,  and  the  little  relic  of  her  child,  should  pass  through  the 
grave  to  the  dwelling-place  of  her  ancestors. 

"  Laurel  Hill,  the  place  selected  as  the  principal  cemetery  of 
Philadelphia,  is  distant  about  three  miles  from  the  city,  embra 
cing  an  area  of  thirty-two  acres,  situated  upon  a  commanding 
eminence  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  to  which  it  has  a 
steep  and  broken  descent.  The  ruggedness  of  the  view  of  the 
cemetery  grounds,  although  not  hidden,  is  greatly  relieved  by 
a  fine  view  of  the  forest  trees  which  skirt  the  river.  Many  rare 
and  beautiful  trees  have  been  collected,  not  indigenous  to  the 
soil,  and  among  them  the  cedar  of  Lebanon,  and  some  of  the 
varieties  of  the  firs  which  grow  in  northern  Europe. 

"  Passing  a  short  distance  along  the  main  carriage-road,  you 
reach  the  group  of  statues  of  Old  Mortality  and  his  Pony  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  sculptured  of  freestone  by  a  self-taught  art 
ist,  Mr.  Thorn,  inclosed  within  an  iron  railing,  and  protected 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  191 

in  some  degree  from  the  effect  of  the  weather  by  an  edifice  of 
stone,  with  an  open  front  view,  overarching  the  whole.  This 
was  the  principal  object  of  my  visit.  When  a  boy,  I  have  oft 
en  seen  Old  Mortality,  who  always  made  his  home  at  my  moth 
er's  house  when  he  visited  our  part  of  the  country,  and  the 
deeply-thrilling  incidents  which  he  told  me  of  the  martyrs,  and 
the  sufferings  they  endured  for  Christ's  sake,  left  a  permanent 
impression  on  my  mind ;  and  the  appearance  which  this  singu 
lar  personage  then  made  is  still  vivid,  as  he  approached,  either 
riding  or  leading  the  companion  of  his  journeys — a  little  pony 
— by  a  halter  of  hair  or  rope,  with  a  straw  cushion  instead  of 
a  saddle.  Thus  accoutred,  he  traveled  from  one  church-yard 
to  another  throughout  Scotland,  happy  if  he  could  find  some 
Cameronian  epitaph  from  which  his  chisel  could  remove  the 
moss,  or  deepen  the  record  which  told  of  the  virtues  of  his  coun 
try's  martyrs,  who  in  1685  had  been  thrown  into  prison  by  the 
privy  council  for  the  political  and  religious  views  which  they  en 
tertained,  and  many  of  whom  had  died  of  diseases  contracted  dur 
ing  their  incarceration.  To  this  pious  duty  he  devoted  his  life, 
which  was  protracted  to  his  eighty-sixth  year.  Having  no  wants 
but  of  the  simplest  kind,  which  were  readily  supplied  by  those 
who  sympathized  with  his  enthusiasm,  applause  did  not  encour 
age  him,  and  obloquy  had  no  other  effect  than  to  bring  out  into 
bolder  relief  the  lineaments  of  a  nature  which  distinguished  his 
countrymen  at  that  period,  and  whose  character,  their  great  de 
lineator  has  said,  shows  most  to  advantage  in  adversity,  when 
it  seems  akin  to  the  native  sycamore  of  the  hills,  which  scorns 
to  be  biased  in  its  mode  of  growth  even  by  the  influence  of 
the  prevailing  wind,  but,  shooting  its  branches  with  equal  bold 
ness  in  every  direction,  shows  no  weather-side  to  the  storm,  and 
may  be  broken,  but  can  never  be  bent.  The  time  and  scene 
when  and  where  this  high-hearted  enthusiast  breathed  his  last, 
are  known,  but  the  place  where  his  bones  repose  has  never  been 
ascertained ;  and  he  whose  life  was  spent  in  repairing  the  rav 
ages  Time  had  made  upon  the  monuments  of  others,  has  not 
even  a  frail  memorial  erected  to  mark  the  spot  to  which  his 
own  remains  were  committed." 

William  B.  Maclay  received  from  his  father  every  consider 
ation  which  parental  care  and  the  attention  of  competent  in 
structors  could  afford.  Among  his  early  teachers  were  the 


192  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

Reverend  Daniel  H.  Barnes,  the  Reverend  Jonathan  B.  Kid- 
der,  of  New  York,  and  the  Reverend  John  O.  Choules,  of  New 
port,  Rhode  Island,  formerly  principal  of  an  academy  at  Red 
Hook,  Dutchess  county,  New  York;  known,  also,  as  the  au 
thor  of  the  "  History  of  Missions,"  and  other  publications. 

In  1832  Mr.  Maclay  entered  the  freshman  class  of  the  Uni 
versity  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and,  after  remaining  at  that 
institution  four  years,  he  graduated  with  the  highest  honors — 
the  valedictory  to  the  graduating  classes  having  been  awarded 
to  him  by  the  faculty.  At  this  time  the  professor,  John  Proud- 
fit,  being  compelled  to  visit  Europe  for  his  health,  directed  Mr. 
Maclay,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Faculty  of  Science  and 
Letters,  to  act  as  Professor  of  the  Latin  Language  and  of  Lit 
erature  during  his  absence.  Mr.  Maclay  was  then  but  twen 
ty-two  years  of  age. 

While  a  student  at  the  University,  he  was  chosen  president 
of  one  of  the  two  literary  societies  connected  with  it,  and  ap 
pears  to  have  evinced  a  lively  interest  both  in  the  exercises  and 
welfare  of  these  nurseries  of  youthful  talent.  In  1838  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Council,  or  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
University,  and  also  its  Secretary,  in  which  honorable  connec 
tion  with  this  institution  he  still  continues.  In  1836  he  was 
associated  with  J.  N.  M'Elligott  and  M.  Weed  in  the  publica 
tion  of  the  New  York  Quarterly  Magazine,  as  one  of  its  edit 
ors. 

While  a  student,  he  appears  to  have  cherished  the  hope  of 
seeing  a  periodical  established  in  the  city  of  New  York  which 
should  take  higher  rank,  and  be  distinguished  by  a  more  elabo 
rate  and  scientific  character,  than  is  compatible  with  a  daily,  or 
even  a  monthly  publication.  He  seems  to  have  had  in  view 
a  periodical,  under  the  immediate  auspices  of  the  University, 
known  by  some  name  which  should  indicate  a  connection  with 
it,  but  still  more  so  by  the  contribution  of  articles  on  the  part 
of  its  professors  and  friends.  The  project  was,  however,  aban 
doned  after  a  careful  consideration  of  all  the  difficulties  which 
attended  its  execution. 

The  article  on  the  sun's  rays,  contributed  by  Professor  Dra 
per  to  one  of  the  publications  of  the  National  Institute,  exhib 
its,  in  a  striking  manner,  the  beneficial  influence  which  such  a 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.        v~    .     193 


\- 

\v 


that 


mode  of  communication  with  the  reading  public  as  that  con 
templated  by  Mr.  Maclay,  exercises.  /  / ^  ^ 

No  effort  of  the  mind  of  the  scholar  or  the  devotee  of  science,  *  £ 
however  painfully  made,  is  lost,  for  a  mirror  is  at  hand  in 
which  it  is  faithfully  reflected.  The  standard  of  taste  is  eleva 
ted,  and  the  public  mind  withdrawn  from  the  fugitive  literature 
of  the  day,  to  correct  models  and  to  the  contemplation  of  mind 
in  its  noblest  exercise,  revealing  to  other  minds  new  views  of 
our  intellectual  and  moral  nature. 

In  the  conduct  of  the  magazine  already  mentioned,  much  of 
the  labor  devolved  upon  Mr.  Maclay.  We  have  been  informed 
by  one  of  his  intimate  friends,  that,  out  of  four  hundred  and 
eighty-six  pages,  the  number  comprised  in  the  magazine  for 
1837,  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  were  contrib 
uted  either  directly  or  indirectly  by  himself.  The  articles 
known  to  be  from  his  pen  are  varied  both  in  regard  to  their 
subject  and  merit.  Among  them  are  reviews  of  Jones's  Excur 
sion  to  Jerusalem,  Cairo,  Damascus,  &c. — of  Lockhart's  Life 
of  Sir  Walter  Scott — The  Religious  Opinions  of  Washington 
— The  Duchess  de  la  Valliere,  by  Bulwer — The  Great  Me 
tropolis — Characteristics,  of  Woman,  by  Mrs.  Emerson — Rob 
ert  Hall,  &c.,  &c. 

The  following  introduction  to  the  review  of  the  memoirs  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott,  strikes  us  as  very  natural  and  appropriate : 

"  Biography  yields  to  no  other  species  of  composition  in  in 
terest  and  instruction.  More  especially  is  it  true  when  the  sub 
jects  of  which  it  treats  are  the  struggles  and  vicissitudes  of  a 
life  devoted  to  the  pursuits  of  literature. 

"  There  is  a  pleasure  of  the  purest  kind  in  observing  the 
gradual  development  of  thought  and  refinement  of  expression 
in  one  who,  smitten  with  a  love  of  the  good  and  the  beautiful, 
desirous  to  leave  something  behind  him  less  perishable  than  his 
tombstone,  has  '  scorned  delights  and  lived  laborious  days.'  No 
one  can  read  these  memoirs  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  so  long  and 
so  anxiously  expected,  without  feeling  this  pleasure,  and  with 
out  deriving  from  them  that  instruction  which  might  not  be  re 
ceived  from  the  perusal  of  less  interesting  works.  In  our  judg 
ment,  not  the  least  important  lesson  which  these  memoirs  teach 
is  the  advantage,  or,  rather,  the  necessity,  which  there  is  of  hav 
ing  some  profession  less  precarious  than  that  of  literature,  upon 

VOL.  I.— N 


194  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

which  the  child  of  genius  can  fall  back  for  comfort  or  support 
in  the  hour  when  Adversity  clouds  the  lights  which  Hope  hung 
up  in  the  uncertain  future.  Had  this  stay  been  possessed  by 
Burns  and  Savage,  the  one  would  not  have  been  Scotland's 
shame  as  well  as  glory,  nor  would  the  other  have  been  driven 
into  those  practices  to  which  he  has  alluded  with  such  pathos 
in  the  solemn  scenes  of  <  The  Wanderer :' 

" '  Oh,  let  none  censure,  if  untried  by  grief; 
If,  amid  wo,  untempted  by  relief, 
He  stooped,  reluctant,  to  low  arts  of  shame, 
Which  then,  e'en  then,  he  scorned,  and  blushed  to  name.'" 

Neither  the  limits  nor  the  design  of  our  work  will  enable  us 
to  furnish  as  extensive  extracts  as  we  could  desire,  or  as,  in 
deed,  are  essential  to  present  a  faithful  portraiture  of  the  mind 
of  Mr.  Maclay.  We  must,  therefore,  content  ourselves  with  a 
few  extracts  from  his  reviews  of  Mrs.  Jameson's  Characteristics 
of  the  Women  of  Shakspeare,  and  even  these  we  must  confine 
to  the  characters  of  Juliet  and  Lady  Macbeth : 

"  There  are  few  commentators  on  the  text  of  Shakspeare," 
he  says,  "  who  have  given  more  pleasure,  and  (we  may  add  with 
equal  truth)  more  instruction,  than  Mrs.  Jameson.  We  had 
thought  that  the  subject  had  been  exhausted ;  but  she  has  un 
folded  it  '  in  fuller  aspects  and  in  fairer  lights.'  Many  of  her 
thoughts  upon  the  female  characters  of  Shakspeare  are  strik 
ingly  original ;  and  even  when  we  meet  those  which  our  own  re 
flections,  or  the  observations  of  preceding  commentators  have 
rendered  familiar,  we  find  them  bodied  forth  in  those  bright  im 
ages  that  make  this  whole  volume 

"  '  A  perpetual  feast  of  nectared  sweets, 
Where  no  crude  surfeit  reigns.' 

What,  for  instance,  can  be  finer  than  the  paragraph  in  which, 
refuting  the  arguments  of  those  who  contend  that  no  pulse  of 
affection  for  the  fair  Ophelia  beat  in  the  breast  of  Hamlet,  she 
shows  that  this  affection  existed,  but  in  subservience  to  the 
stronger  desire  of  avenging  a  '  most  unnatural  murder  ;'  so  that 
Hamlet,  in  pushing  aside  his  love  in  order  not  to  be  interrupted 
in  his  purposed  vengeance,  resembled  that  judge  of  the  Areopa 
gus  who,  being  occupied  with  graver  matters,  flung  from  him 
the  little  bird  which  had  sought  refuge  in  his  bosom,  and  with 
such  angry  violence  that  he  killed  it  ? 


WILLIAM  BROWN   MACLAY.  195 

"  Of  the  character  of  Juliet,  the  author  speaks  in  language 
which  must  be  true,  or  there  is  no  reliance  on  the  history  and 
our  own  observations  of  the  human  affections.  Many  have  con 
demned  the  sentiments  to  which  the  balcony  scenes  give  rise,  or, 
rather,  the  language  in  which  those  sentiments  are  clothed,  as 
extravagant ;  yet,  under  what  sky  has  not  love  protested  that 
the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars  '  grew  pale  and  sick  with  envy  at 
the  object  of  its  idolatry  ?'  One  of  the  profoundest  critics  upon 
Shakspeare  (Schlegel)  says  that  this  censure  originates  in  a  fan- 
ciless  way  of  thinking,  to  which  every  thing  appears  unnatural 
that  does  not  suit  its  tame  insipidity.  Hence  an  idea  has  been 
formed  of  simple  and  natural  pathos,  which  consists  of  exclama 
tions  destitute  of  imagery,  and  in  nowise  elevated  above  every 
day  life  ;  but  energetic  passions  electrify  the  whole  mental  pow 
ers,  and  will  consequently,  in  highly-favored  natures,  express 
themselves  in  an  ingenuous  and  figurative  manner. 

"  The  authoress  has  spared  us  the  trouble  of  answering  those 
over-delicate  persons  who  hang  their  head  when  they  read  the 
fond  adjuration,  *  Come,  night !  come,  Romeo !' 

"  While  upon  the  play  of  Romeo  and  Juliet,  we  may  notice 
an  observation  of  Bulwer's,  to  which  it  would  be  unnecessary  to 
allude  had  it  not  the  sanction  of  his  name.  Speaking  of  this 
play,  he  says,  *  The  wit  of  Mercutio  is  of  so  perfect  a  cast,  that 
Shakspeare,  unable  to  continue  it,  was  compelled  to  put  him  to 
death  in  the  third  act.' 

"  Now  we  will  not  pretend  to  say  what  Shakspeare  was  or 
was  not  compelled  to  do ;  but  it  does  appear  to  us  that  the  death 
of  Mercutio  was  intended,  not  to  stop  a  flow  of  wit,  difficult  of 
continuance,  but  to  advance  the  action  of  the  play ;  it  is,  in 
deed,  the  hinge  upon  which  the  play  turns.  If  Tybalt  had  not 
slain  Mercutio,  Romeo  had  not  slain  Tybalt ;  if  Romeo  had  not 
slain  Tybalt,  Romeo  had  not  been  banished,  and  Juliet  had  not 
lain  in  the  tomb  of  the  Capulets. 

"  Mrs.  Jameson  has  dedicated  this  work  to  Mrs.  Butler,  and 
this  brings  to  our  mind  that  lady's  masterly  impersonation  of 
the  part  of  Juliet.  It  was  the  character  in  which  she  won  her 
first  laurels,  and  has  never  been  represented  with  equal  ability 
upon  the  American  stage.  The  harmonious  utterance  which 
wafted  the  verse,  varied,  but  unbroken,  to  the  ear,  and  the  del 
icate  modulations  of  the  voice,  which  brought  out  with  such 


196  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

nicety  the  different,  and,  to  a  careless  observer,  almost  imper-' 
ceptible  shades  in  the  meaning  of  the  part,  constituted  no  small 
portion  of  the  charm  of  the  representation.  Passages  which 
are  ordinarily  omitted  or  slurred  over — passages,  however,  that 
are  to  a  performance  what  the  foliage  is  to  the  tree,  which,  if 
it  does  not  add  to  its  strength,  constitutes  much  of  its  beauty — 
were,  by  the  felicity  with  which  they  were  pronounced,  ren 
dered  even  more  effective  than  those  in  which  an  attempt  is 
usually  made  to  '  split  the  ears  of  the  groundling.'  How  beau 
tifully  was  the  inclination  of  the  confiding  Juliet  to  hold  her 
lover  in  converse  expressed,  when,  recovering  from  the  surprise 
into  which  she  had  been  thrown  by  his  unexpected  appearance 
beneath  the  balcony,  she  archly  asks, 

"  '  By  whose  directions  found  you  out  this  place  ?' 

And  again,  when  imploring  Romeo  not  to  swear  by  the  moon, 
how  well  was  the  conception  of  the  poet  illustrated  by  the  re 
proachful  glance  cast  at  the  planet,  as  she  added, 

"  '  The  inconstant  moon, 
That  nightly  changes  in  her  circled  orb !' 

Who  that  has  heard  can  ever  forget  the  manner  in  which  the 
question, 

"  « Speakest  thou  from  thy  heart?' 

was  put  to  the  nurse,  when  that  worthy  personage  counseled 
her  to  wed  Paris  ?  No  sooner  had  the  affirmative  answer  been 
given,  than  we  perceive  the  die  is  cast.  The  tone  of  the  actress, 
or,  rather,  the  look  which  accompanied  that  tone,  evinced  that 
the  ties  (light  as  shreds  of  silk,  but  strong  as  bars  of  iron) 
which  had  bound  Juliet  to  the  old  playmate  of  her  childhood 
were  severed  forever,  and  that  the  heart,  whose  only  pulse  was 
love,  was  in  future  to  be  a  sealed  book  to  her  former  confidant, 
although  the  words  had  not  yet  been  uttered — 

" '  Thou  and  my  bosom  henceforth  shall  be  twain.' 

"  Alas !  that  the  power  which  can  thus  shed  a  rich  illumi 
nation  over  the  page  of  genius,  should  die  with  its  possessor. 
Pity  it  is  that  the  spell  which  entrances  the  hearts  of  thou 
sands  should  so  soon  be  broken  !  that  the  noblest  triumphs 
achieved  in  the  field  opened  up  by  '  the  youngest  of  the  sister 
arts'  can  not  be  perpetuated  from  age  to  age,  but  that,  though 
as  brilliant,  they  should  be  as  unsubstantial  as  the  dew-drops 
from  the  womb  of  the  morning ! 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLA^Y.  197 

•"All  that's  bright  must  fade  ; 
The  brightest  still  the  fleetest.'  " 

In  regard  to  the  character  of  Lady  Macbeth,  Mr.  Maclay 
considered  that  Mrs.  Jameson  had  fallen  into  the  too  common 
error  of  biographers,  who,  in  their  zeal  for  their  subject,  are 
not  content  with  placing  personages,  naturally  subordinate,  in 
the  back-ground  of  the  picture,  but  even  of  employing,  in  refer 
ence  to  them,  false  lights  and  colors,  to  give  the  greater  prom 
inence  to  the  object  of  their  idolatry.  In  reply  to  much  depre 
ciation  of  Macbeth,  in  contrast  with  Lady  Macbeth,  he  observes : 

"  The  courage  and  ambition  of  '  the  weaker  husband,'  as, 
with  no  sort  of  propriety,  he  is  called,  were  even  greater  than 
hers,  who  stood  unmoved  by  those  visionary  terrors  which 
threw  down  the  judgment  of  her  guilty  partner,  and  so  fear 
fully  shook  *  his  whole  state  of  man.' 

"But  this  courage  and  ambition  dwelt  within  a  bosom  from 
which  that  honor  which  showed  what  *  became  a  man' — that 
loyalty  to  one  who  had  borne  his  faculties  so  meek- — that  gen 
erous  love  of  fame,  which  shrunk  from  forfeiting  so  soon  l  the 
golden  opinions  bought  from  all  sorts  of  people' — had  not  yet 
been  expelled. 

"When  these  good  principles  were  finally  driven  out,  and 
the  deed  which  they  strove  to  prevent  was  executed,  he  could 
still  reply,  when  his  savage  wife  taunts  him  with  the  question, 

"  '  Are  you  a  man  ?' 

"  '  Ay,  and  a  bold  one,  that  dare  look  on  that 
Which  might  appal  the  devil.' 

"  The  frequency  with  which  Lady  Macbeth  charges  her  hus 
band  with  a  lack  of  courage,  almost  unconsciously  impresses 
us  with  the  belief  that,  as  regards  that  quality,  no  comparison 
can  be  drawn  between  the  two.  We  receive  her  reproaches 
as  truths,  losing  sight  of  the  plain  fact  that  the  charge  of  cow 
ardice  was  urged,  not  because  she  herself  believed  it,  for  this 
could  not  have  been  the  case,  but  because  it  was  wonderfully 
calculated  to  change  the  aspect  of  the  deed  he  meditated,  and 
to  withdraw  his  mind  from  the  contemplation  of  the  gratitude, 
the  affection,  the  loyalty  which  he  owed  the  gracious  being  who 
had  *  honored  him  of  late,'  and  in  whose  defense  he  felt  he 

"  '  Should  against  his  murderer  shut  the  door, 
Not  bear  the  knife  himself.' 


198  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

Unlike  his  wife,  Macbeth  embraced  within  the  objects  of  his 
faith  and  reverence  the  administration  of  that  Moral  Governor 
who  has  proclaimed  himself,  throughout  the  whole  course  of 
his  providence,  the  avenger  of  blood. 

"  It  is  this  belief  in  a  higher  intelligence,  whose  peculiar 
province  it  is  to  see  things  as  they  are,  that  clothes  conscience 
with  so  much  of  its  power  to  scourge  the  hapless  victim  who 
has  disobeyed  its  mandates  and  defied  its  authority. 

"  It  was  not  any  weakness,  not  any  want  of  courage,  but 
this  belief,  which  wrung  with  anguish  the  soul  of  Macbeth  ere 
yet  the  bloody  instrument  of  his  crime  was  thrown  from  his 
hands.  It  was  this,  when  describing  the  horrid  scene  to  his 
wife,  and  telling  her  of  the  two  lodgers,  one  of  whom,  in  his 
sleep,  cried  <  God  bless  us  1'  and  '  Amen !'  the  other,  which  in 
duced  him  to  utter  the  pathetic  exclamation, 

" '  I  had  most  need  of  blessing,  and  Amen 
Stuck  in  my  throat/ 

"  We  know  not  whether  it  was  the  design,  but  it  assuredly  is 
the  tendency,  of  many  of  the  observations  of  the  authoress,  to 
exalt  our  conceptions  of  the  character  of  the  wife  at  the  ex- 
pense  of  that  of  the  husband. 

"  The  criticism,  too,  employed  to  show  that  the  expressions 
used  by  some  preceding  commentators  in  describing  Lady  Mac 
beth  are  unwarrantably  harsh,  is  merely  verbal.  Is  it  a  proof 
that  she  was  not  naturally  cruel  or  savage  because  the  torch 
light  which  fell  upon  the  countenance  of  the  sleeping  Duncan, 
and  revealed  its  resemblance  to  that  of  her  own  father,  pre 
vented  her  from  being  the  principal  instead  of  the  accessary  in 
his  murder  ?  No.  We  bow  before  this  redeeming  trait  in  a 
relentless  nature.  But  the  wild  flower,  seen  blooming  upon 
some  rugged  acclivity,  impresses  the  beholder,  by  its  strange 
and  unrelieved  loneliness,  with  a  deeper  conviction  of  the  ster 
ility  of  the  soil  over  which  it  sheds  its  sweetness. 

"  This  solitary  excellence,  which  Shakspeare  has  so  casual 
ly,  yet  so  happily  introduced  in  his  portraiture  of  Lady  Mac 
beth,  serves,  by  its  very  singularity,  to  bring  into  clearer  view 
the  dark  lines  in  her  character.  It  is  the  shaded  medium 
through  which  we  see  more  distinctly  how  completely  the  evil 
has  eclipsed  the  better  part  of  her  nature.  Foster,  in  one  of 
the  best  essays  that  was  ever  written,  says,  that  the  good  angel 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  199 

of  Macbeth  would  have  succeeded  in  wresting  the  dagger  from 
his  hand,  if  the  pure  demoniac  firmness  of  his  wife  had  not 
shamed  and  hardened  him  to  the  deed. 

"  To  this,  exception  has  been  taken  by  Mrs.  Jameson,  who 
gives,  as  an  argument  against  our  belief  in  this  firmness,  the 
remorse  and  death  of  Lady  Macbeth.  But  do  we  hesitate  to 
call  that  firmness  demoniac  which  enabled  the  guilty  emperors 
of  Rome,  without  one  compunctious  visiting  of  conscience,  to 
wade  through  the  blood  of  their  countrymen  ?  Yet  terror  and 
remorse  mingled  largely  with  the  rage  and  cruelty  of  Nero.  In 
the  silence  of  their  chamber,  conscience  resumed  its  throne  in 
the  breast  of  these  haughty  despots,  and,  like  Lady  Macbeth, 
they  were  filled  with  those  '  thick-coming  fancies  that  kept 
them  from  their  rest.'* 

"  Again  the  authoress  remarks: 

"  *  Lady  Macbeth,  having  proposed  the  object  to  herself,  and 
arrayed  it  with  an  ideal  glory,  fixes  her  eyes  steadily  upon  it, 
soars  far  above  all  womanish  feelings  and  scruples  to  attain  it, 
and  stoops  upon  her  victim  with  the  strength  and  velocity  of  a 
vulture ;  but,  having  committed  unflinchingly  the  crime  neces 
sary  for  the  attainment  of  her  purpose,  she  stops  there.' 

"We  ask,  is  this  so?  Did  she  stop  there?  When  filled 
with  gloomy  apprehensions,  Macbeth  exclaims, 

"  '  Oh .'  full  of  scorpions  is  my  mind,  dear  wife ; 
Thou  knowest  that  Banquo  and  his  Fleance  live,' 

who  is  it  that  darkly  adds, 

"  '  But  in  them  nature's  copy's  not  eterne  ?' 

Macbeth  had  already  determined  upon  the  deed,  from  the  com 
mission  of  which  the  pretty  plain  hint  here  given  by  no  means 
acted  as  a  restraint.  Knowing  the  disposition  of  his  wife,  he 
resolved  to  keep  her  in  ignorance  of  the  steps  by  which  he  con 
templated  to  cut  off  Banquo.  It  was  his  design  to  gratify  her 


*  Suetonius  has  left  us  a  graphic  description  of  the  sleepless  nights  of  the  mon 
ster  Caligula.  In  his  wretchedness  he  wandered  up  and  down  the  vast  corridors 
of  his  palace,  looking  anxiously  for  the  first  streak  of  dawn,  and  imploring  its  com 
ing.  When  he  did  sleep,  which  was  usually  not  more  than  two  or  three  hours  of 
the  night,  his  rest  was  broken  by  most  terrific  phantoms,  "  ut  qui  inter  cetera* 
pelagi  quondam  speciem  colloquentem  secum,  videre  visus  sit."  The  meanest 
slave  that  trembled  at  his  tread  could  adopt  the  language  of  Lady  Macbeth's  at 
tendant,  "I  would  not  have  such  a  heart  in  my  bosom,  for  the  dignity  of  the  whole 
body." 


200  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

by  evincing  that  a  spark  of  the  demoniac  resolution  which 
glowed  in  her  breast  had  been  communicated  to  his,  and  that 
he  could  commit  a  second  murder  without  the  external  prompt 
ings  which  impelled  him  to  the  first.  Hence,  never  doubting 
the  applause  with  which  the  news  of  the  crime  would  be  re 
ceived,  he  says, 

" '  Be  innocent  of  the  knowledge,  dearest  chuck, 
Till  thou  applaud  the  deed.' " 

Mrs.  Jameson,  at  the  conclusion  of  a  beautiful  parallel  which 
she  had  drawn  between  the  Electra  of  Sophocles  and  Lady 
Macbeth,  had  observed,  that  the  only  female  character  in  the 
whole  compass  of  dramatic  poetry  which  can  be  placed  near 
Lady  Macbeth  was  the  Medea  ;  "  not  the  vulgar,  voluble  fury 
of  the  Latin  tragedy,  nor  the  Medea,  in  hooped  petticoat,  of 
Corneille,  but  the  genuine  Greek  Medea — the  Medea  of  Eurip 
ides."  To  this  remark  Mr.  Maclay  replies : 

"  This  is  genuine  criticism,  and  that,  too,  clothed  with  rich 
drapery  of  poetry.  But,  with  reference  to  the  Medea  (the  Latin 
one),  we  believe  it  is  much  easier  to  call  it  '  vulgar'  and  '  volu 
ble'  than  to  prove  it  to  be  so.  This  wholesale  condemnation  of 
a  work,  the  merit  of  which  is  felt  by  some,  how  stoutly  soever 
it  may  be  denied  by  others,  is  always  unjust,  and  generally  pro 
ceeds  from  a  want  of  that  careful  examination  wThich  many  are 
weak  enough  to  imagine  the  only  door  of  truth.  That  the 
Medea,  like  the  other  Lathi  tragedies  modeled  after  the  Greek, 
is  faulty  in  regard  to  action,  and  is  chargeable  with  some  of  the 
sins  which  do  most  easily  beset  an  imitation,  we  at  once  concede. 
To  counterbalance  these,  however,  it  contains  scenes  which  awe 
the  soul  like  the  sough  of  a  tempest. 

"  The  last  chorus  before  the  fifth  act,  in  which  Medea  is  com 
pared  to  a  lioness  robbed  of  her  whelps,  roaming  through  a  jun 
gle  of  the  Ganges,  is  a  noble  strain  of  poetry ;  nor  can  any  one 
possessed  of  ordinary  sensibility  fail  to  admire  the  language  in 
which  Medea  requests  Jason  to  allow  her  children  to  accompany 
her  into  exile : 

" '  Contemnere  animus  regias,  ut  scis,  opes 
Potest  soletque :  liberas  tantum  fugae 
Habere  comites  liceat,  in  quorum  sinu 
Lacramas  profuudam.     Te  novi  nati  manent.' 

"  It  has  been  too  much  the  fashion  to  speak  of  the  Greek 
drama  as  all  perfection  and  the  Latin  as  all  extravagance. 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  201 

Schlegel,  in  one  of  his  lectures  on  Dramatic  Literature,  makes 
some  remarks  on  the  Roman  tragedy  which  are  perceived  to  be 
erroneous,  not  less  from  their  shallowness  or  want  of  depth,  than 
from  their  cloudiness  or  want  of  meaning.  Now  let  the  truth 
be  spoken :  if  in  Euripides  we  find  a  commendable  attention 
to  the  element  of  action,  we  also  find,  in  many  instances,  the 
chorus  having  no  apparent  connection  with  the  plot,  and,  like 
shreds  of  canvass  torn  by  the  gale,  flying  loose  from  the  texture 
into  which  it  should  have  been  woven.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  see  in  the  Medea  of  Seneca  deficiency  in  regard  to  action, 
we  also  see  the  chorus  rising  naturally  out  of  the  play,  and 
serving,  while  it  unfolds  its  plan,  to  enhance  its  interest." 

About  this  period  Mr.  Maclay  was  admitted  to  the  practice 
of  the  law,  to  the  study  of  which  he  diligently  devoted  himself. 
Both  his  acquired  information  and  the  resources  of  a  vigorous 
mind  were  soon  called  into  play  as  counsel  in  a  trial  for  mur 
der  in  the  Court  of  Sessions  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  which 
he  is  said  to  have  acquired  much  reputation. 

His  client,  in  resisting  an  apprehended  attack,  it  appears,  had 
struck  his  antagonist,  a  man  of  powerful  frame,  a  blow  upon 
the  head  with  an  iron  rule,  which  resulted  in  death.  In  this 
trial  he  was  associated  with  Ogden  Hoffman,  whose  brilliant 
eloquence  has  so  often  moved  courts  and  juries  at  his  will,  and 
rendered  him  "facile  princeps"  among  forensic  pleaders. 

To  Mr.  Maclay  was  committed  the  care  of  opening  the  case 
to  the  jury.  In  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  he  did  not  content 
himself  with  the  bare  enumeration  of  the  facts  expected  to  be 
proved  for  the  defense. 

Familiar  with  these,  he  not  only  scrupulously  abstained  from 
any  statement  which  was  not  abundantly  sustained  by  the  tes 
timony  subsequently  given,  but  also  from  that  more  pardona 
ble  exaggeration  so  customary  with  counsel,  but  with  which  ju 
ries  seldom  sympathize,  because  a  case  is  presented  before  them 
in  all  its  aspects,  and  their  minds  have  not  become  distorted  by 
the  frequent  contemplation  of  one  view  of  it. 

A  luminous  statement  of  the  facts,  set  forth  in  their  most 
natural  order — the  order  of  their  occurrence — a  calm  comment 
ary  upon  them,  and  an  apt  application  of  the  law  in  support  of 
the  conclusions  upon  which  a  verdict  was  asked,  together  with 
an  impassioned  appeal  to  the  jury  in  vindication  of  the  right  of 


202  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

taking  life  under  certain  circumstances,  extorted  the  admiration 
of  all  present. 

So  fully  and  fairly  had  the  case  been  presented,  that  it  was 
allowed  to  go  to  the  jury,  both  by  the  prosecuting  officer  and 
Mr.  Hoffman,  without  any  summing  up,  and  after  a  few  min 
utes  a  verdict  of  acquittal  was  rendered. 

In  1838  Mr.  Maclay  was  married  to  Antoinette,  daughter  of 
Mark  Walton,  merchant,  of  New  Orleans.  He  has,  living,  two 
sons  and  one  daughter.  In  the  same  year  he  was  nominated 
by  the  Democratic  party  as  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature,  but 
was  defeated,  the  Whigs  having  obtained  a  great  triumph  in 
the  election  of  all  their  candidates,  both  in  the  state  and  national 
Legislatures,  for  the  city.  His  friends  consoled  themselves  by 
appealing  to  the  vote  which  he  received  on  that  occasion  (among 
the  highest  given  to  any  of  the  defeated  candidates)  as  an  evi 
dence  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  generally  held  by  the 
members  of  his  party  and  the  community. 

At  that  time  the  city  of  New  York  elected  its  members  to 
the  Legislature  by  a  general  ticket.  The  city  has  since  been 
divided  into  single  districts.  In  the  following  year  Mr.  Maclay 
was  again  nominated  for  the  Legislature,  and  elected  by  a  large 
majority.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the  business  of  the  ses 
sion,  particularly  in  every  matter  affecting  the  interests  of  the 
city  he  in  part  represented. 

The  Democrats  were  in  a  minority.  Two  bills  were  passed 
by  the  majority,  to  which,  although  local  in  their  character, 
much  attention  was  drawn  and  much  importance  attached. 
The^one  provided  for  the  registration  of  all  the  voters  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  the  other  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
criminal  court  of  that  city. 

To  both  of  these  measures  Mr.  Maclay  made  a  strenuous  op 
position.  His  objections  to  a  registry  law,  which  good  men  of 
all  parties  have  frequently  approved,  seemed  to  have  been  form 
ed  on  the  supposition  that  it  would  prove  oppressive  in  its  prac 
tical  operation  in  the  city,  where  the  relation  is  so  general  of 
employer  and  employed.  "  The  people,"  he  said,  "  would  be 
harassed  by  a  set  of  political  spies  and  informers,  their  names 
would  be  known,  their  persons  marked,  their  residence  record 
ed,  their  circumstances  ascertained,  their  opinions  ferreted  out, 
and  the  alternative  presented  of  a  violation  of  their  conscien- 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  203 

tious  convictions  on  the  one  hand,  or  hardships  and  suffering  to 
themselves  and  their  families  on  the  other."  Such,  he  contend 
ed,  would  be  the  operation  of  a  system  which  proposed  to  as 
certain,  not  so  much  who  voted,  as  how  they  voted.  It  is 
known  that  the  law  was  repealed  within  two  years  after  it  had 
gone  into  operation,  and  that  it  has  not  since  been  revived. 

The  bill  for  the  reorganization  of  the  criminal  court,  to 
which  we  have  alluded,  was  also  passed  into  a  law.  By  its 
provisions  the  aldermen  of  the  city,  who,  by  its  charter,  had  al 
ways  acted  as  judges  in  the  Court  of  Sessions,  in  connection 
with  the  recorder,  were  excluded  from  the  bench,  and  authority 
given  on  the  part  of  the  governor  for  the  appointment  of  two 
permanent  judges. 

Mr.  Maclay  dwelt  much  on  the  fact  that  the  representatives 
of  the  city,  in  the  popular  branch  of  the  Legislature,  were  unan 
imous  in  their  hostility  to  the  proposed  measure,  and  detailed 
many  circumstances  to  illustrate  that  the  change  was  neither 
expected  nor  desired,  and  that,  in  whatever  motives  it  had  its 
origin,  it  could  not  result  in  the  furtherance  of  the  public  good. 
The  constitutionality  of  the  law  was  tested,  and  it  was  finally 
pronounced  unconstitutional  by  the  highest  tribunal  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  to  which  an  appeal  had  been  taken. 

During  this  session  Mr.  Maclay  introduced  and  procured  the 
passage  of  an  act  in  relation  to  the  Superior  Court  and  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  in  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  which 
is  entitled  to  notice  for  the  novelty  of  its  provisions.  The 
courts  referred  to  are  the  two  principal  courts  of  the  city,  and, 
in  consequence  of  its  increase  in  wealth  and  population,  their 
business  had  greatly  augmented.  It  had  accumulated  so  rap 
idly  after  the  panic  of  1837,  that  the  courts  were  found  in 
adequate  to  discharge  it.  Although  sitting  constantly  for  ten 
hours  every  day,  they  advanced  but  slowly.  In  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  alone,  the  calendar  had  increased  to  nine  hund 
red  causes.  In  this  state  of  things,  the  Legislature  was  called 
upon  to  create  new  courts.  To  this  it  was  objected  that  the 
great  accumulation  of  business  was  but  a  temporary  evil,  that 
resulted  from  the  deranged  financial  condition  of  the  country, 
and  that  the  new  tribunals,  if  established,  would  be  found  wholly 
unnecessary  when  the  temporary  difficulty  was  removed.  In 
this  exigency  Mr.  Maclay  introduced  his  bill.  His  plan  was 


204  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

novel  and  simple.  It  empowered  each  court  to  hold  double  ses 
sions,  or,  in  other  words,  instead  of  the  judges  holding  the  court 
together,  it  authorized  each  judge  to  hold  a  separate  branch  of 
the  court,  with  a  separate  jury,  for  the  trial  of  causes.  By  this 
means  three  trials  could  be  carried  on  at  the  same  time,  by  the 
same  court  sitting  in  different  rooms.  Instead  of  the  two  courts 
being  occupied  with  but  two  causes,  they  might  be  engaged  at 
the  same  time  in  the  trial  of  six. 

This  simple  contrivance  worked  admirably.  In  less  than  a 
year  the  great  mass  of  the  business  was  cleared  off,  and  since 
that  period  the  judges  have  been  enabled,  by  holding  their  sep 
arate  and  extra  courts,  to  prevent  any  accumulation  beyond  the 
regular  and  ordinary  business. 

In  the  same  year  he  introduced  another  bill,  marked  by  the 
same  remedial  features. 

A  special  term  was  held  in  Albany,  the  capital  of  the  state, 
every  month,  for  the  dispatch  of  that  large  class  of  business 
known  to  lawyers  as  non-enumerated.  One  third,  or  nearly  one 
half,  of  this  business  originated  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
the  lawyers  of  that  city  were  compelled  to  go  to  the  former  place 
to  attend  to  it.  This  system  subjected  them  to  considerable 
expense  and  great  loss  of  time.  Still  it  had  been  submitted  to 
for  a  long  series  of  years,  and  no  attempt  had  been  made  to  al 
ter  it.  Mr.  Maclay's  bill  empowered  the  judge  of  the  New  York 
circuit  to  hear  and  determine  all  business  of  this  description 
arising  within  his  circuit.  Parties  were  permitted  to  bring  in 
then:  motions  before  him  at  the  city  of  New  York  upon  a  notice 
of  four  days :  a  change  which  greatly  facilitated  the  dispatch 
of  business,  and  materially  lessened  the  expense  of  suitors. 

As  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  Mr.  Maclay  also  made  a  re 
port,  upon  an  application  by  petitioners  from  several  counties 
in  New  York,  for  a  change  in  the  existing  mode  of  apportioning 
the  literature  fund  of  the  State  of  New  York.  It  was  con 
tended  that  the  income  of  this  fund  ($40,000),  then  divided 
into  eight  equal  parts,  and  given  to  the  eight  Senatorial  Dis 
tricts  into  "which  the  state  was  divided,  should  be  distributed  to 
the  whole  state  without  reference  to  these  districts.  The  high 
est  sum  apportioned  the  previous  year  to  one  student  had  been 
eight  dollars  and  thirty-six  cents,  and  the  lowest  three  dollars 
and  forty-three  cents,  while,  upon  the  plan  proposed,  the  rate 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  205 

per  scholar  would  have  been  four  dollars  and  fifty-two  cents. 
Mr.  Maclay  gave  a  history  of  the  fund,  by  which,  as  appears 
from  his  report,  the  mode  of  distribution  asked  for  had  been  tried 
and  abandoned,  upon  the  discovery  that  the  more  sparsely-set 
tled  districts  of  the  state  were  not  reached  by  it.  He  contended 
that  if  such  districts  now  received  more,  they  needed  more  ;  and 
that  the  object  of  the  state  being,  not  to  endow,  but  to  encour 
age  academies,  its'  bounty  was  rightly  bestowed  where  most  re 
quired,  and  "  diminished  only  where  the  well-managed  institu 
tion  could  spare  a  portion  without  injury  to  the  younger  and 
weaker  seminaries."  He  showed  conclusively  that  the  expec 
tation  entertained  that  the  inequality  in  the  apportionment 
would  be  gradually  reduced  and  ultimately  destroyed,  had  been 
in  part  realized,  inasmuch  as  the  disparity  had  fallen  from  eight 
times  to  twice  the  amount  received.  These  conclusions  were 
sustained  by  the  Legislature. 

During  the  same  session  a  committee  of  three  was  chosen 
by  ballot,  to  sit  during  the  recess  of  the  Legislature,  with  power 
to  send  for  persons  and  papers,  for  the  purpose  of  investigating 
the  affairs  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Rail-road  Company. 
Grave  charges  had  been  preferred  against  the  company,  to 
whom  the  state  had  loaned  its  credit  to  the  amount  of  three 
millions  of  dollars,  and  much  hostility  had  been  excited  against 
it  from  its  supposed  participation  and  interference  in  the  polit 
ical  struggles  of  the  day. 

Mr.  Maclay  was  chosen  one  of  the  committee,  and,  as  ap 
pears  from  their  report  (a  document  of  one  thousand  pages, 
which  was  printed  by  order  of  the  Legislature),  took  a  promi 
nent  part  in  the  examination  of  witnesses  and  in  the  other  labors 
of  the  committee,  which  extended  over  a  period  of  six  months. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  year  1841  Mr.  Maclay  was  again  elected 
a  member  of  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  city 
and  county  of  New  York. 

Occupying  the  station  of  chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Schools  and  Colleges  during  the  session  of  1842,  he  introduced 
and  procured  the  passage  of  the  "  Act  to  Extend  to  the  City 
and  County  of  New  York  the  Provisions  of  the  General  Act  in 
relation  to  Common  Schools,"  which  passed  April  11,  1842.  A 
brief  sketch  of  the  features  of  the  school  system  existing  in  the 
state  and  the  city  of  New  York  respectively,  may  not  be  unin 
teresting. 


206  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

In  the  year  1812,  a  board  of  commissioners,  appointed  by  the 
Legislature  to  devise  a  suitable  system  for  the  organization  and 
establishment  of  common  schools  in  the  State  of  New  York,  sub 
mitted  a  report,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature,  who 
enacted  a  general  school  law  in  accordance  with  its  provisions, 
whereby  the  several  towns  were  divided  into  school  distracts, 
and  trustees  elected  in  each,  to  whom  were  to  be  confided  the 
care  and  superintendence  of  the  schools  established  therein. 
The  interest  of  the  school  fund  was  to  be  divided  among  the 
different  counties  and  towns  according  to  their  respective  popu 
lations,  and  the  proportions  received  by  the  respective  towns 
were  to  be  subdivided  among  the  districts  into  which  such  towns 
should  be  divided,  according  to  the  number  of  the  children  in 
each  between  the  ages  of  four  and  fifteen  years.  Each  town 
was  required  to  raise  by  tax,  annually,  as  much  money  as  it 
should  have  received  from  the  school  fund,  and  the  gross  amount 
of  moneys  received  from  the  state  and  raised  by  the  laws  was 
to  be  appropriated  exclusively  to  the  payment  of  the  teachers. 

The  provisions  of  the  general  law  for  the  State  of  New  York, 
above  set  forth,  have  been  continued,  without  any  material 
change,  until  the  present  time,  the  titles  and  duties  of  the 
school  officers  annually  chosen  in  the  counties,  towns,  or  dis 
tricts  having  been  altered  or  modified,  to  keep  pace  with  con 
stant  improvements  suggested  by  experience. 

The  city  and  county  of  New  York,  however,  were  excepted 
from  the  provisions  of  this  act ;  the  interest  of  the  school  fund 
to  which,  according  to  its  proportion  of  population,  it  was  en 
titled,  being  paid  to  an  incorporated  body,  called  the  Public 
School  Society,  and  being  by  them  appropriated  to  the  support 
of  Public  Schools,  in  such  a  manner  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
trustees,  was  deemed  most  expedient.  This  society  was  found 
ed  in  the  year  1805,  before  an  efficient  general  system  had  been 
devised  for  the  state  at  large,  and  when  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  an  especial  manner,  was  suffering  from  the  many  evils  re 
sulting  from  the  want  of  a  suitable  system  of  education  for  the 
poor.  De  Witt  Clinton,  whose  philanthropy  equaled  his  intelli 
gence,  and  in  whose  public  and  private  life  they  walked  hand 
in  hand  together,  was  the  originator  and  first  president  of  this 
society,  which,  from  the  date  of  its  incorporation  to  the  present 
time,  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of  good  to  the  city,  the  educa- 


WILLIAM   BROWN    MACLAY.  207 

tion  of  whose  children  it  has  had  in  charge.  By  degrees,  the 
most  distinguished  citizens,  becoming  interested  in  the  opera 
tion  of  the  society,  enrolled  themselves  among  its  members, 
and,  devoting  themselves  gratuitously  to  the  discharge  of  their 
self-imposed  duties,  were  the  means  of  effecting  a  greater 
amount  of  good  in  the  aggregate,  it  is  believed,  than  has  ever 
yet  been  effected  simply  by  private  benevolence. 

It  was,  however,  contended,  by  the  opponents  of  this  system, 
that  there  were  a  number  of  evils  inherent  in  it — that  it  was 
not  adequate  to  the  increased  wants  of  the  community,  and 
that  the  plan — which  had  promised  well  at  its  inception,  when 
the  limits  of  the  city  were  circumscribed,  and  its  population 
comparatively  small  and  more  homogeneous  than  at  present, 
and.  when,  above  all,  there  was  no  adequate  public  provision 
for  popular  education — was  unsuitable,  and  ill  adapted  to  its 
present  circumstances.  It  was  also  contended  that  the  great 
power  possessed  by  a  corporation  which  was  declared  to  be  ir 
responsible,  composed  of  private  individuals,  receiving  and  ex 
pending  large  amounts  of  public  money,  under  the  control  only 
of  their  own  judgments,  gave  umbrage  to  many  of  our  citizens, 
who  contended  that  the  money  of  the  people  should  be  received 
and  disbursed  only  by  agents  chosen  by  the  popular  will ;  and 
the  excitement  upon  this  subject,  heightened  by  some  extrane 
ous  circumstances,  to  which  it  is  not  necessary  now  to  refer, 
increased  to  such  an  extent  that  the  action  of  the  Legislature 
was  invoked  by  numerous  petitions,  and  the  Committee  on  Col 
leges,  Academies,  and  Common  Schools  of  the  Assembly,  on 
the  14th  of  February,  1842,  through  their  chairman,  Mr.  Mac- 
lay,  presented  a  report,  in  which  what  were  believed  to  be  the 
causes  of  the  evils  of  the  system  of  common  school  instruction 
in  the  city  of  New  York  were  clearly  set  forth,  and  the  proper 
remedies  designated.  A  bill,  entitled  "  An  Act  to  Extend  to 
the  City  and  County  of  New  York  the  Provisions  of  the  Gen 
eral  Act  in  relation  to  Common  Schools,"  was  introduced  with 
the  report,  and  speedily  passed  into  a  law. 

The  various  objections  to  the  system  of  the  Public  School 
Society  and  to  its  practical  effects  are  enumerated  in  the  re 
port.  We  will  content  Ourselves  with  a  brief  quotation,  suffi 
cient  to  show  the  nature  of  the  evils  complained  of,  and  the 
purposed  remedy : 


208  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"All  that  appertains  to  public  instruction  in  the  city  and 
county  of  New  York  is  substantially  under  the  control  of  an 
incorporated  institution,  known  as  the  Public  School  Society. 
The  extraordinary  powers  of  this  society  have  been  ably  and 
elaborately  set  forth  in  the  reports  made  to  the  Legislature  at 
its  last  session.  The  control  of  the  public  education  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  the  disbursement  of  nine  tenths  of  the  pub 
lic  moneys  raised  and  apportioned  for  schools,  are  vested  in  this 
corporation.  It  is  a  perpetual  corporation,  and  there  is  no  pow 
er  reserved  by  the  Legislature  to  repeal  or  modify  its  charter. 
From  the  petitions  of  many  thousand  inhabitants  of  New  York, 
it  appears  that  objections  are  widely  prevalent  against  this  or 
ganization  of  schools  in  the  metropolis,  and  that  the  system  so 
far  fails  to  obtain  the  general  confidence,  that  a  very  large  num 
ber  of  children  are  left  destitute  of  education. 

"  There  is  something  exceedingly  incongruous  with  our  re 
publican  habits  of  thinking  in  the  idea  of  taking  the  children  of  a 
population  approaching  half  a  million  of  souls — taxing  them,  at 
the  same  time,  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  schools — and, 
when  both  the  children  and  the  taxes  are  furnished,  withdraw 
ing  both  out  of  the  hands  of  guardians  and  tax-payers,  and 
handing  them  over  to  an  irresponsible  private  chartered  com 
pany.  Such  a  concentration  of  power  into  mammoth  machine 
ry  of  any  description  is  odious  to  the  feelings,  and  dangerous 
to  the  rights  of  freemen. 

"  It  is  too  late  to  argue  that  private  chartered  corporations, 
with  extraordinary  powers  and  privileges,  are  more  suitable  or 
efficient  agents  for  public  objects  than  the  community  itself 
acting  under  general  laws.  But  the  question  is  not  upon  the 
merits  or  defects  of  other  institutions ;  it  is  whether  the  Public 
School  Society  has  or  has  not  failed  to  accomplish  the  great  ob 
ject  of  its  establishment — the  universal  education  of  the  chil 
dren  of  the  city  of  New  York.  That  it  has  signally  failed  has 
been  shown  by  the  statistics  of  the  schools  ;  and  there  is,  more 
over,  incontrovertible  proof  in  the  fact  that  nearly  one  half  of 
the  citizens  of  the  metropolis  protest  against  the  system,  and 
demand  its  modification. 

"  Such,  then,  is  the  evil  to  be  corrected.  It  is  apparent  that 
it  began  with  a  departure  from  the  confessedly  equal  and  just 
system  of  common  school  education  which  prevails  in  all  the 


WILLIAM   BROWN  MACLAY.  209 

other  parts  of  the  state,  and  it  can  only  be  effectually  and  sat 
isfactorily  corrected  by  bringing  home  the  education  of  the 
young  of  the  city  to  the  business  and  bosoms  of  their  parents. 
The  common  school  system  of  the  state  successfully  and  admi 
rably  accomplishes  that  object,  and  the  committee,  therefore, 
recommend  that  the  system  shall,  as  far  as  practicable,  be  ex 
tended  to  the  city  and  county  of  New  York." 

By  the  new  act,  passed  April  11,  1842,  and  amended  subse 
quently,  April  18,  1843,  two  commissioners,  two  inspectors, 
and  five  trustees  of  common  schools,  were  to  be  elected  in  each 
ward  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  appropriate  duties  were 
assigned  to  each  of  these  classes  of  school  officers.  The  com 
missioners  were  organized  as  a  Board  of  Education,  whose  du 
ties  were  to  distribute  the  moneys  arising  from  the  school  fund 
and  from  the  proceeds  of  the  school  tax  among  the  several  ward 
schools,  and  to  found  new  schools  whenever  they  should  be  need 
ed.  The  trustees  were  appointed  to  examine  the  schools,  and 
to  grant  certificates  to  teachers ;  while  the  former,  in  conjunc 
tion  with  the  commissioners,  appointed  the  teachers,  and  were 
responsible  for  the  proper  financial  management  of  the  schools 
under  their  charge.  It  was  also  the  duty  of  all  the  school  offi 
cers  to  supervise  carefully  the  schools  in  the  different  wards,  by 
whose  inhabitants  they  were  chosen. 

The  advocates  of  the  new  system  assert  that  it  has  fulfilled 
all  their  expectations.  Twenty  new  schools,  consisting  of  for 
ty-four  district  departments,  have  since  been  established  under 
the  direction  of  the  commissioners,  inspectors  and  trustees  elect 
ed  in  the  several  wards,  and  applications  for  additional  ones  are 
continually  made  to  the  Board  of  Education.  The  following 
table,  compiled  from  the  official  returns,  will  indicate  clearly 
the  increase  in  the  number  of  children  attending  the  common 
schools  in  the  city  since  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1842,  and 
also  show  that  each  separate  year  exhibits  a  progressive  aug 
mentation  : 
VOL.  I.— O 


210 


HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 


A  Table,  showing  the  average  actual  attendance  of  Scholars, 
and  the  whole  number  taught,  in  the  Public  Ward  Schools 
of  the  City  of  New  York  during  the  years  1839, 1840, 1841, 
1842,  1843,  1844,  1845,  and  1846. 


Year. 

Schools. 

Average  actual 
attendance. 

Whole  number 
taught. 

1839 

Public  Schools 

13,189 

1840 

Public  Schools 

14,772 

39,557 

1841 

Public  Schools 

14,543 

1842 

Public  Schools 

15,519 

45,704 

Public  Schools 

15,938 

46,333 

1843 

. 

Ward  Schools* 

~  2,079 

10,504 

1  QA  A 

Public  Schools 

15,977 

37,985 

JLO'l'l 

Ward  Schools 

6,806 

20,210 

1  Q/1  ^ 

Public  Schools 

16,602 

44,217 

lolO 

"• 

, 

Ward  Schools 

7,522 

24,233 

Public  Schools 

17,698 

28,264 

1846 

Ward  Schools 

8,793 

25,894 

During  the  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1842,  Mr.  Maclay's 
attention  was  drawn  to  the  unpublished  journals  of  the  Pro 
vincial  Congress  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  sessions  of 
1775  and  1776,  which  were  lying  in  manuscript  in  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  State.  These  journals,  relating  to  the  most 
interesting  portion  of  the  legislative  history  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  contained  many  original  and  unpublished  letters  from 
Washington,  Franklin,  Hancock,  Greene,  Warren,  Montgom 
ery,  Jay,  Ethan  Allen,  and  many  other  distinguished  actors  in 
the  drama  of  the  Revolution.  To  rescue  these  precious  memo 
rials  of  the  devoted  patriotism  of  that  period  from  loss  or  muti 
lation  was  the  grateful  task  of  Mr.  Maclay,  who  ultimately 
succeeded  in  obtaining  the  passage  of  a  resolution  authorizing 
their  publication  by  the  state.  They  form  two  elegant  folio  vol 
umes,  the  value  of  which  was  known  only  to  the  few  antiqua 
rians  "  who  had  brushed  away  the  dust  and  cobweb  accumula 
tions  of  half  a  century."  Thurlow  Weed,  the  editor,  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  in  commenting  upon  the  subject,  remarks, 
that  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  Furman,  chairman  of  the  Library  Com 
mittee  in  the  Senate,  and  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  Maclay,  chairman 
of  the  Literature  Committee  of  the  Assembly,  the  people  are 
indebted  for  the  rescue  of  these  unpublished  memorials  of  the 
patriotism,  gallantry,  and  wisdom  of  their  revolutionary  fathers. 

*  The  schools  organized  under  the  law  of  1842  are  designated  as  Ward  Schools. 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  211 

*.--V...-;--"l* 

Mr.  Maclay  has  been  three  times  elected  to  Congress,  having  • 
been  chosen  by  large  majorities  at  each  recurring  election  since 
the  organization  of  the  state  into  Congressional  Districts.  In 
deed,  the  hold  which  he  has  upon  the  people  of  his  district  was 
strikingly  exhibited  in  the  circumstances  connected  with  his 
second  election.  This  took  place  during  the  excitement  in  re 
lation  to  what  is  commonly  called  Native  Americanism.  The 
party  adopting  this  name  at  the  time  swept  the  city  of  New 
York  as  with  a  whirlwind,  electing  from  that  city  the  thirteen 
members  of  the  Legislature,  three  members  of  Congress,  and, 
in  fact,  every  candidate  for  any  office  except  Mr.  Maclay.  This 
did  not  arise  from  the  fact  that  he  was  more  favorably  regarded 
by  them  than  any  of  the  other  candidates.  On  the  contrary, 
perhaps  there  was  no  one  more  objectionable  to  them,  no  one 
whose  defeat  was  more  ardently  desired.  He  had  taken  fre 
quent  occasion  to  denounce  this  party  as  narrow,  prescriptive, 
and  intolerant  in  their  views ;  and,  averse  as  he  seems  to  be  to 
contests  in  such  an  arena  as  the  House  of  Representatives,  yet 
he  warmly  opposed  the  motion  of  Mr.  Levin  to  raise  a  select 
committee  in  reference  to  this  subject. 

Mr.  Maclay  was  an  early  advocate  of  the  annexation  of  Tex 
as.  His  views  were  fully  expressed  in  a  letter  written  in  1845, 
in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  attend  a  mass-meeting  held  on  the 
subject  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  recurred  to  it,  also,  in 
another  letter,  written  in  defense  of  the  existing  war  with 
Mexico. 

During  the  Oregon  controversy  [see  title,  S.  A.  DOUGLAS],  he 
expressed  his  views  with  equal  clearness  on  that  question,  sus 
taining  the  position  taken  by  the  President,  and  eliciting  from 
General  Cass  the  remark,  "  Mr.  Maclay  has  given  the  clearest 
brief  statement  of  our  title  to  Oregon  which  I  have  ever  yet  seen, 
and  in  language  which  must  find  a  response  in  every  bosom." 

When  the  question  of  the  reduction  of  postage  was  first  agi 
tated,  and  measures  to  accomplish  the  object  were  adopted  at  a 
meeting  held  in  the  Merchants'  Exchange  of  the  city  of  New 
York*  Mr.  Maclay  addressed  several  letters,  in  reply,  to  a  com 
mittee  then  raised,  the  substance  of  which  was  afterward  em 
bodied  in  an  article  published  in  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine. 
The  expediency  and  propriety  of  the  proposed  reduction  were 
strongly  enforced,  and  the  whole  subject  was  examined  with 


212  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

great  care  and  with  admitted  ability.    His  view  was,  that  there 
should  be  a  uniform  rate  of  postage  not  exceeding  five  cents. 

Among  the  matters  originated  by  Mr.  Maclay  while  in  Con 
gress,  or  to  which  his  attention  has  been  particularly  directed, 
we  notice  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  officers  and  crew  of  the 
steamer  Missouri,  which  was  destroyed  by  fire  at  Gibraltar ; 
the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  forward  officers  of  the  late  Explor 
ing  Expedition ;  the  bill  providing  for  experiments  on  Earl's 
cordage ;  the  bill  to  test  Seth  Lamb's  improved  wheels  for  ocean 
steamers,  and  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  heirs  of  John  Paul 
Jones.  The  latter  is  accompanied  by  a  report  in  favor  of  the 
claim,  which  examines  and  discusses  minutely  the  merits  of  a 
case  long,  and  sometimes  angrily,  discussed  by  Congress.  We 
give  a  brief  statement  of  it : 

The  claim  of  the  heirs  of  Commodore  John  Paul  Jones,  as 
well  as  of  his  brave  officers,  seamen,  and  marines,  who  swept 
the  English  Channel  in  an  old  Indiaman  christened  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  and  crowned  with  the  value  of  prizes  nobly 
captured,  but  given  up  to  the  enemy  by  a  neutral  power,  had 
been  presented  five  times  to  different  Congresses  between  the 
years  1806  and  1843 ;  but,  owing  to  the  absence  of  important 
papers,  the  neglect  of  those  to  whose  care  it  was  confided,  or 
other  causes,  it  had  been  suffered  to  sleep,  at  the  expense  of 
Commodore  Jones's  reputation,  until  Mr.  Maclay,  as  one  of  the 
Committee  of  Naval  Affairs,  to  which  it  had  been  referred,  with 
a  patient  diligence,  of  which  the  report  itself  is  the  best  proof, 
examined  into  and  proclaimed  its  merits. 

The  archives  of  the  government  were  searched ;  documents  of 
great  value  and  of  deep  interest,  long  forgotten,  owing  to  the 
exciting  scenes  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  were  brought  forth 
from  their  dusty  alcoves,  and  the  claims  of  the  widow  and  the 
orphan  were  sustained.  History  was  purged  of  popular  false 
hoods,  and  made,  in  the  case  of  the  renowned  Paul  Jones,  to 
speak  in  the  language  of  truth  and  soberness.  The  historian 
and  the  patriot,  the  friends  of  the  navy  and  of  gallant  actions 
throughout  the  broad  land,  will  thank  the  spirit  that  worked 
out,  amid  the  dry  details  of  a  committee  room,  the  righteousness 
of  a  claim  that  showed  the  "  Scotch  pirate"  of  Sir  James  Vorke 
to  have  been  the  Nelson  of  the  American  navy,  who,  in  the 
most  terrible  naval  engagements  ever  fought,  has  left  an  imper- 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  213 

ishable  name  upon  the  cliffs  of  England  and  upon  the  annals 
of  the  world. 

The  niece  of  Paul  Jones  arrived,  nearly  twenty  years  ago, 
with  the  view  of  prosecuting  this  claim.  After  petitioning  suc 
cessive  Congresses,  and  complaining  that  her  detention  so  long 
from  her  country  and  friends  was  a  novel  mode  of  raising  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  a  benefactor,  she  died  without  re 
alizing  the  object  of  her  wishes.  To  her  succeeded  George  L, 
Loudon,  the  grand  nephew  of  Paul  Jones,  whose  amiable  char 
acter  and  general  intelligence  endeared  him  to  all  who  enjoyed 
the  advantage  of  his  acquaintance.  He,  too,  had  the  cup  raised 
to  his  lips  only  to  be  dashed  to  the  ground. 

The  justice  of  the  claim  which  he  was  engaged  in  prosecut 
ing,  and  in  reference  to  which  Mr.  Maclay  was  the  first  to  make 
a  favorable  report,  was  at  length  admitted.  Both  the  Senate 
and  the  House  of  Representatives  passed  a  bill,  which  was  finally 
called  up  on  the  last  night  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress.  The 
next  morning  Mr.  Maclay  was  in  the  principal  clerk's  room  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  looking  over  the  list  of  bills  which 
had  been  passed,  and  missed  from  among  them  that  of  Paul 
Jones.  Upon  further  inquiry,  the  bill  was  found  upon  the  floor 
of  the  Senate.  It  had  never  been  taken  to  or  signed  by  the 
President.  It  was  now  taken  to  him,  the  accident  explain 
ed,  but  he  contended  that  he  could  not  sign  a  bill  after  the  ad 
journment  of  Congress.  The  heirs  of  Paul  Jones  were  again 
thrown  over  to  the  mercies  of  another  Congress.  But,  before 
another  Congress  had  assembled,  Mr.  Loudon  also  died,  the  grief 
and  mortification  he  had  experienced  in  his  disappointment  be 
ing  too  great  for  a  frame  already  enfeebled,  and  his  constitution 
gave  way  to  an  attack  of  sickness,  which  resulted  in  his  death 
at  Jones's  Hotel,  Philadelphia,  about  four  weeks  after  this  event. 
The  claim  was  allowed  by  the  existing  Congress. 

Mr.  Maclay  adopted  the  same  view  of  it  as  that  taken  by  Al 
exander  Slidell  Mackenzie,  in  his  Life  of  Paul  Jones,  and  contend 
ed  that  it  was  especially  incumbent  upon  a  free  government  to 
satisfy  the  claims  of  the  humblest  of  its  citizens,  either  upon  its 
justice  or  its  generosity,  but  that  this  was  pre-eminently  the  case 
when  a  public  benefactor  sought  either  at  its  hands.  In  the  in 
teresting  documents  accompanying  the  report  of  Mr.  Maclay, 
Paul  Jones  appears  in  this  light.  He  was,  indeed,  no  ordinary 


214  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

man  who  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  Franklin,  Adams,  Morris, 
Jefferson,  and  Lafayette ;  who,  by  the  originality  of  his  genius, 
was  enabled  to  make  suggestions  in  relation  to  the  organization 
of  our  infant  navy  far  in  advance  of  the  knowledge  of  his  time ; 
who,  with  his  own  hand,  hoisted  the  flag  of  the  American  Re 
public  the  first  time  its  folds  were  given  to  the  breeze,  and  to 
whom  Congress  repeatedly  tendered  its  thanks,  and  express 
ed  the  high  sense  entertained  of  his  bravery  and  good  conduct, 
ordering,  upon  one  occasion,  a  gold  medal,  with  suitable  devices, 
to  be  struck  and  presented  to  him,  and,  upon  another,  confer 
ring  upon  him  the  only  line-of-battle  ship  then  possessed  by  our 
country.  As  we  have  receded  from  the  Revolutionary  era,  the 
impression  of  the  services  rendered  by  Jones  to  our  infant  lib 
erty  seems  to  have  become  less  vivid,  and,  for  nearly  half  a  cen 
tury,  the  claims  of  his  heirs  have  been  overlooked,  and  evenr 
occasionally,  derided  as  "  obsolete."  But  these  should  long  ago 
have  been  satisfied  by  Congress  ;  for,  if  Jones  had  rendered  no 
other  service  to  his  adopted  country,  his  humane  exertions  in 
behalf  of  imprisoned  American  seamen,  and  his  deliverance  of 
them  from  Algerine  bondage,  should  have  commended  his  de 
scendants  to  the  gratitude  of  the  nation,  and  the  pecuniary 
claims  of  his  ancestors  to  the  most  speedy  adjustment  consist 
ent  with  their  examination. 

The  defects  of  his  character  were  almost  inseparable  from  a 
man  who  entered  upon  active  life  at  the  early  age  of  twelve 
years,  and  who,  from  a  profession  to  which  he  was  devoted,  was 

"  Jealous  in  honor ;  sudden  and  quick  in  quarrel — 
Seeking  the  bubble  reputation 
Even  in  the  cannon's  mouth." 

There  is  something  very  touching  in  his  death,  which  oc 
curred  at  Paris,  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  in  the  month  of  July, 
1792.  His  excessive  fondness  of  titles  and  decorations  is  well 
known ;  but  in  his  dying  moments  he  desired  to  be  described 
in  his  will  simply  as  John  Paul  Jones,  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  The  news  of  his  appointment  as  commissioner  to  ne 
gotiate  with  the  government  of  Algiers  for  the  ransom  of  all 
the  Americans  held  in  captivity,  and  for  the  restoration  of  peace 
(a  just  tribute,  on  the  part  of  government,  to  the  humane  so 
licitude  which  in  this  connection  he  had  ever  exhibited),  did  not 
reach  him  in  time  to  gladden  his  dying  hour.  Shortly  after 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY. 

signing  his  will,  a  few  friends,  who  were  with  him,  then  bade 
him  adieu,  leaving  him  sitting  in  his  arm-chair.  No  apprehen 
sion  of  his  immediate  decease  seems  to  have  heen  entertained. 
When  his  physician  arrived,  he  was  surprised  to  find  him  nei 
ther  in  the  chair  nor  the  parlor.  Upon  entering  an  adjoining 
bed-room,  Jones  was  found  lying  with  his  face  upon  the  bed  and 
his  feet  upon  the  floor.  In  this  posture  his  spirit  had  passed 
away.  His  remains  were  placed  in  a  leaden  coffin,  in  order  that, 
if  the  country  he  had  loved  so  well  should  desire  to  transport 
his  remains,  they  might  the  more  conveniently  do  so ;  and  the 
National  Convention  of  France  decreed  that  twelve  of  its  mem 
bers  should  assist  at  the  funeral  rites  of  a  man  who  had  so  well 
served  the  cause  of  liberty. 

On  the  shores  of  the  Sol  way,  in  Scotland,  in  view  of  all  the 
craft  that  navigate  the  river,  is  the  humble  cottage  in  which 
Paul  Jones  was  born.  Situated  near  an  aged  forest,  and  cov 
ered  with  evergreens  and  flowering  shrubs,  there  is  nothing  in 
the  peaceful  scenes  it  overlooks  in  harmony  with  the  eventful 
life  of  him  who  has  invested  it  with  an  abiding  interest  to  the 
American  traveler.  Lieutenant  A.  B.  Pinkham,  of  the  United 
States  navy,  with  a  generous  enthusiasm,  for  which  he  is  en 
titled  to  the  highest  commendation,  during  a  visit  to  Scotland, 
set  apart  a  sum  of  money  for  the  preservation  and  repair  of  this 
cottage,  and  has  thus  honorably  linked  his  name  with  that  of 
the  brave  man  whose  memory  he  has  sought  to  perpetuate.  But 
long  after  the  navigator  upon  the  Solway  shall  have  ceased  to 
look  upon  this  landmark,  the  name  of  the  renowned  captain 
who  first  drew  his  breath  within  its  walls  shall  be  cherished 
with  gratitude  by  the  American  citizen  who  revolves  in  his 
mind  the  achievements  of  those  early  patriots,  native  or  adopted, 
who  have  contributed  to  the  greatness  and  glory  of  his  country. 

We  notice,  among  the  addresses  delivered  by  Mr.  Maclay — to 
which  the  limits  of  this  work  allow  only  a  passing  allusion — 
one,  delivered  in  1840,  on  the  vexed  question  of  the  Sub-Treas 
ury.  It  passed  through  several  editions,  and  was  very  widely 
circulated. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1847,  a  great  national  meeting  was 
held  in  the  city  of  Washington,  the  object  of  which  was  to  de 
vise  a  comprehensive  system  of  relief  for  the  famishing  poor  of 
Ireland. 


216  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

The  accounts  of  the  extreme  distress  and  suffering  of  the  peo- 
pie  of  that  country,  with  which  the  public  journals  were  filled, 
excited  universal  sympathy,  and  gave  to  this  meeting  an  in 
tense  degree  of  interest.  The  character  and  high  standing  of 
the  gentlemen  who  composed  its  officers  and  managers  were 
guarantees  that  the  sentiments  then  and  there  promulgated 
would  be  unexceptionable,  and  the  measures  adopted  wise  and 
effectual. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  acted  as  President. 
The  report  prepared  for  the  occasion  was  read  by  the  Reverend 
Orville  Dewey,  and  addresses  were  delivered  by  some  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  both  parties  in  Congress.  This  meeting, 
which  was  among  the  first  called,  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the 
sympathies  of  the  people,  and  may,  perhaps,  be  said  to  have  or 
ganized  this  benevolence.  Mr.  Maclay  appears  to  have  taken 
an  active  share  in  the  deliberations  of  the  assemblage.  The 
following  is  a  brief  extract  from  his  speech  on  that  occasion : 

He  said  that,  "  although  laboring  under  great  bodily  indispo 
sition,  he  had  not  felt  at  liberty  to  decline  the  request  of  the 
committee  of  arrangements  to  address  a  few  words  to  the  meet 
ing.  The  very  appropriate  and  eloquent  remarks  of  the  dis 
tinguished  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  [Mr.  Webster],  the 
report  which  had  just  been  read  by  the  Reverend  Dr.  Dewey,  of 
New  York,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the  occasion  itself,  super 
seded  the  necessity  of  saying  more.  The  evil  which  it  was  the 
object  of  the  meeting  to  devise  wise,  and,  he  trusted,  comprehen 
sive  measures  to  alleviate,  had  been  fully  stated  in  the  report. 
Alas !  no  elaborate  statement,  no  painful  enumeration  of  de 
tails  was  needed  to  describe  it.  It  was  summed  up  in  the 
fearful  announcement,  which  had  struck  terror  to  many  a  heart 
in  this  country,  that  a  civilized  and  Christian  nation,  eight 
months  removed  from  the  time  of  its  harvest,  was,  at  the  very 
moment  he  was  speaking,  suffering  the  fearful  pangs  and  hor 
rors  of  famine.  It  was  not  for  him  to  indulge  in  any  idle  spec 
ulation  whether  the  evil  was  political  or  social,  or  in  what  it 
had  its  origin.  It  was  enough  for  him,  for  them,  for  every 
right-minded  man  throughout  the  country  to  know  that  it  ex 
isted.  It  was  true,  an  ocean  rolled  its  billows  between  us  and 
the  objects  of  this  suffering;  but,  as  not  all  its  waters  could 
wash  away  the  obligation  under  which  we  rested  to  that  un- 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  217 

happy  island,  so  neither  ought  this  barrier  to  diminish  our  sym 
pathies,  or  induce  us  to  abate  one  jot  or  tittle  of  our  active  ex 
ertions  to  remove  distresses  so  appalling.  He  was  glad  that,  in 
depicting  these  distresses,  the  report  had  alluded  also  to  these 
obligations.  Never  let  it  be  said  in  the  future,  by  the  historian 
who  shall  narrate  the  history  of  these  times,  that  America  was 
indifferent  to  the  present  sufferings  of  Ireland.  We  owed  her 
a  deep  debt  of  gratitude.  Who  could  rightly  appreciate  how 
much  of  our  prosperity  was  attributable  to  the  number  of  her 
sons  who  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  their  wives,  and  child 
ren,  and  household  gods ;  have  held  up  an  example,  imitated 
by  other  nations ;  have  built  our  cities,  cultivated  our  waste 
domain,  and  become  happily  blended  and  incorporated  into  the 
great  American  family.  Why,  in  point  of  capital  (taking  that 
word  in  its  broadest  sense) ;  in  point  of  commerce,  interior  and 
foreign ;  in  point  of  the  facilities  for  employing  that  commerce 
to  the  best  advantage ;  in  point  of  agriculture,  and  the  subju 
gation  of  the  soil  to  the  rule  of  the  husbandman — of  peopling 
the  deserted  wastes  of  nature  with  crowds  of  cultivated  life — 
in  point,  finally,  of  the  increased  population,  wealth,  and  re 
sources  of  these  United  States,  we  are  indebted  to  no,  other 
cause  to  the  same  extent  as  to  that  of  emigration,  encouraged 
at  every  period  by  the  enlightened  policy  of  our  government, 
and  so  large  a  portion  of  which  had  proceeded  from  Ireland. 
He  was  an  American  citizen — not  by  adoption;  he  was  born 
among  the  constituency  who  had  sent  him  to  this  city  to  rep 
resent  their  wishes  and  interests.  He  could  not  forget  that  he 
never  passed  through  the  great  thoroughfare  of  his  native  city 
without  his  eye  resting  upon  the  monuments  which  public 
gratitude  had  erected  to  commemorate  the  service,  and  to  per 
petuate  to  distant  times  the  virtues  of  an  Emmet  and  a  Mont 
gomery. 

"  These  were  claims,  inappreciable,  he  knew,  to  some  minds, 
but  they  were  nevertheless  claims,  and  strong  ones,  upon  us. 
If  it  were  possible  there  were  any  present  uninfluenced  by  con 
siderations  like  these,  he  would  appeal  to  their  humanity ',  since 
he  could  not  awaken  their  gratitude.  Had  they  read  the  ac 
counts  of  suffering  brought  over  by  the  last  steamer  ?  Great 
God !  think  of  thousands  and  thousands  of  starving  men,  will 
ing,  ay,  anxious  (how  anxious  he  hoped  we  might  never  know) 


218  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

to  labor  for  their  bread,  yet  without  the  employment  which 
could  yield  it  to  them — without  the  means  of  escaping  from 
the  misery  that  surrounded  them,  and  with  the  melancholy  con 
sciousness  that  it  -must  sooner  or  later  engulf  them !  Think 
of  whole  families  perishing  of  hunger !  Think  of  manhood 
withered — struck  down  in  its  prime  !  Did  they  love  their  own 
offspring  ?  The  heart  of  the  poorest  peasant,  in  the  meanest 
clay  cabin  in  Ireland,  beat  as  warmly  toward  his.  Think,  oh ! 
think  of  the  '  mothers  who,  with  eyes  unwet,'  glare  o'er  their 
perishing  children. 

"  If  we  can  do  any  thing  to  relieve  these  horrors,  we  can  not, 
without  guilt,  pass  by  upon  the  other  side.  The  same  Being 
who,  in  his  mysterious  allotments,  had  apportioned  misery  and 
destitution  to  them,  and  happiness  and  plenty  to  us,  had  accom 
panied  it,  on  our  part,  with  the  consciousness  of  what  is  our 
duty." 

At  the  close  of  the  first  session  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress, 
upon  his  return  home,  Mr.  Maclay  was  invited,  on  behalf  of 
the  first  and  second  regiment  of  Volunteers  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  to  present  a  sword  to  Lieutenant  C.  F.  Morris,  who  had 
distinguished  himself  at  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de 
la  Palma.  The  place  selected  for  the  presentation  was  Castle 
Garden.  Much  to  the  disappointment  of  all  concerned,  Lieu 
tenant  Morris  did  not  appear  at  the  time  appointed,  having 
been  unable  to  reach  the  city  of  New  York,  in  consequence  of 
the  detention  of  the  steamer  on  Lake  Champlain.  Thomas 
Morris,  the  father,  received  the  sword  on  behalf  of  his  son.  A 
numerous  audience  assembled  on  the  occasion,  and  much  en 
thusiasm  was  evinced.  A  sketch  of  Mr.  Maclay's  remarks, 
which  appears  in  an  account  of  the  proceedings,  enables  us  to 
judge  of  the  manner  in  which  he  discharged  the  task  assigned 
to  him. 

He  paid  a  merited  and  very  graceful  compliment  to  the  first 
and  second  regiments  of  New  York  Volunteers,  alluding  to 
the  promptitude  with  which  they  had  responded  to  the  call  of 
their  country,  and  declared,  that  while  the  gift  would  be  the 
more  valuable  and  the  more  esteemed  by  Lieutenant  Morris  on 
that  account,  it  also  illustrated  the  general  truth,  that  those 
who  know  how  to  discharge  a  public  duty  themselves,  could 
best  appreciate  and  were  the  most  ready  to  acknowledge  its 


WILLIAM   BROWNMACLAY.  219 

proper  performance  in  others.  He  then  entered  upon  a  justifi 
cation  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  giving  a  summary  of  the  causes 
which  had  led  to  it,  and  stated  that,  within  thirty  days  after 
Congress  had  passed  the  law  authorizing  the  President  to  ac 
cept  the  services  of  fifty  thousand  volunteers,  two  hundred 
thousand  had  offered  themselves ;  and  that,  if  positive  prohibi 
tions  had  not  been  issued,  half  a  million  of  citizen  soldiers,  at 
the  time  he  was  speaking,  would  have  stood  forth  ready  to 
meet  the  enemy. 

"  It  would  have  been  singular,"  he  said,  turning  to  Mr.  Mor 
ris,  "  if  your  son  had  been  either  absent  from,  or  undistinguished 
among  that  gallant  throng.  The  name  he  bears,  and  the  blood 
that  courses  through  his  veins,  were  guarantees  of  his  devotion 
to  his  country  in  any  struggle  that  might  have  occurred.  In 
the  darkest  period  of  our  revolutionary  struggle,  '  even  when  the 
thickest  of  war's  tempest  lowered,'  your  venerated  father  saw 
through  the  gloom  of  the  then  present  the  light  that  irradiated 
the  future.  Never  despairing  for  one  moment  of  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  by  the  generous 
sacrifice  of  his  means  and  his  credit  he  raised  the  resources 
which  relieved  our  suffering  and  half-clad  army,  fighting,  amid 
universal  despondency,  the  battle  of  freedom. 

"When  peace  returned  with  her  olive,  and  the  government 
under  which  we  have  lived,  and  grown,  and  prospered  was  or 
ganized,  in  just  appreciation  of  his  services  and  ability,  General 
Washington  tendered  to  him  the  honorable  post  of  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  which,  with  characteristic  modesty,  he  declined. 
What  was  happily  said  of  another  is  equally  applicable  to  him. 
The  character  of  most  public  men,  like  objects  seen  through  a 
mist,  is  magnified  by  the  distance.  He  was  like  a  lofty  tower 
seen  afar  off  in  a  clear  evening  sky,  which  rises  in  grandeur 
and  sublimity  with  every  step  of  approach.  Your  son  has  ap 
proved  himself  not  unworthy  of  such  parentage.  In  the  battle  of 
the  8th  of  May  he  laid  by  his  sword,  and,  taking  the  musket  of 
a  wounded  man,  joined  in  the  fire  of  those  who  were  contending 
with  the  enemy.  In  the  battle  of  the  9th,  although  wounded, 
he  supported  himself  upon  the  arm  of  a  surgeon ;  he  responded 
to  his  brave  commander,  who  had  seized  a  Mexican  standard, 
and  called  to  his  men  to  follow  him  in  the  charge  upon  the  bat 
tery,  through  which  the  desperate  charge  of  Captain  May's  dra- 


220  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

goons  had  already  broken.  For  this  commendable  service,  for 
his  zeal  and  fidelity  as  a  soldier,  for  the  thrill  of  pleasure  he  has 
sent  to  the  bosom  of  his  family  and  friends,  for  the  honor  he  has 
conferred  upon  his  native  city,  this  testimonial,  which  I  am  now 
about  to  present  to  you,  has  been  selected  as  emblematic  of  his 
merits. 

4<  Allow  me,  then,  in  the  name  and  behalf  of  the  first  and  sec 
ond  regiments  of  Volunteers  of  this  state,  to  present  you,  or  him, 
this  sword.  May  the  Dispenser  of  every  good  grant  him  a  long 
life  to  wear  it — his  past  conduct  warrants  it  will  be  honored." 

The  eulogium  pronounced  upon  this  gallant  young  officer 
was  justly  merited.  His  subsequent  conduct  added  increased 
interest  to  his  name.  Our  acknowledgments  are  due,  in  this 
connection,  to  Colonel  Ward  B.  Burnett,  of  the  first  regiment  of 
the  New  York  State  Volunteers,  for  the  information  which  he 
has  furnished  us.  Lieutenant  Morris  was  small  in  stature,  but 
his  weak  frame  was  animated  by  a  lion  heart,  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that,  had  his  life  been  spared,  the  promise  of  his 
youth  would  have  been  fulfilled  in  a  maturity  of  honor.  He 
had  exhibited  an  early  bias  toward  a  military  profession,  and 
while  a  boy,  pursuing  his  studies  at  the  Grammar  School  of 
Columbia  College,  he  received  a  cadet's  appointment,  and  was 
transferred  to  the  Military  Academy  of  West  Point,  from 
which  place  he  graduated  in  1841.  He  was  breveted  as  sec 
ond  lieutenant  in  the  second  regiment  of  United  States  Infant 
ry,  and,  during  the  same  year,  embarked  for  Tampa  Bay,  in 
Florida,  to  join  his  regiment.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  was 
commissioned  as  second  lieutenant.  After  much  active  duty 
in  scouring  the  marshes  and  everglades  of  Florida,  he  was  put 
in  command  of  a  small  post  at  Fort  King,  one  of  the  most  un 
healthy  localities  in  the  state,  and  in  which  his  constitution  be 
came  so  impaired  that  he  was  ordered  to  St.  Augustine,  and 
subsequently  received  a  furlough  of  three  months.  Before  the 
expiration  of  this  term  he  joined  his  regiment  at  Corpus  Christi, 
and,  marching  with  the  army  under  General  Taylor  to  Fort 
Brown,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  he  was  in  the  battles  of  the  8th  and 
9th  of  May — Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma.  It  was  during 
the  engagement  last  named  that  he  received  the  wound  alluded 
to  by  Mr.  Maclay  in  his  address,  a  musket  ball  striking  him 
above  the  hip.  Disregarding  his  wound,  he  pressed  against  the 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  221 

enemy  until  the  order  was  given  to  halt.  Such  was  his  ar 
dor,  that  the  following  morning,  instead  of  remaining  with  the 
wounded,  he  joined  in  the  march  toward  Fort  Brown,  hobbling 
a  distance  of  four  miles,  and  with  the  musket  ball  still  in  his 
body.  After  the  capture  of  Matamoras  he  returned  to  the  Unit 
ed  States,  and  was  engaged  in  the  recruiting  service  at  White 
hall  and  Schenectady.  In  the  month  of  May,  1847,  having 
been  made  first  lieutenant,  we  find  him  at  Vera  Cruz,  com 
manding  a  company  of  recruits,  and  engaged  in  frequent  skirm 
ishes  with  the  guerillas.  He  joined  his  regiment  at  Puebla  :  it 
formed  a  part  of  General  Worth's  division,  and  with  it  he 
marched  to  Tacubaya.  At  the  battle  of  El  Molino  del  Rey  he 
received  two  wounds  in  the  foot  and  ankle ;  amputation  became 
necessary,  and  his  leg  was  taken  off  below  the  knee — an  opera 
tion  which  he  bore  with  the  unflinching  fortitude  and  courage 
which  marked  his  whole  career.  For  some  time  hopes  were 
entertained  of  his  recovery ;  but,  after  thirty-six  hours  of  acute 
suffering,  endured  without  a  murmur,  he  expired. 

Simple  in  his  habits,  punctual  in  his  engagements,  faithful 
to  his  word,  and  learned  in  the  scientific  part  of  his  profession, 
he  was  esteemed  by  all  as  the  model  of  a  good  soldier.  In  Gen 
eral  Worth's  official  report  of  the  sanguinary  battle  of  El  Mo- 
lino  del  Rey,  he  is  mentioned  as  one  of  those  most  distinguished 
for  their  gallantry.  His  early  death  was  mourned  by  many, 
but  by  none  more  than  by  Mr.  Maclay  himself,  who  informed 
the  writer  that,  although  but  slightly  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Morris  the  elder,  he  addressed  a  letter  of  condolence  to  him  on 
that  melancholy  event. 

Being  invited  to  attend  a  public  dinner  given  by  the  citizens 
of  Philadelphia  to  Colonel  Ward  B.  Burnett,  Mr.  Maclay  again 
recurred  to  this  subject  in  an  eloquent  letter,  from  which  we 
quote  the  following  extract : 

"  No  ordinary  estimate  will  therefore,  I  am  sure,  be  placed 
by  Colonel  Burnett  upon  the  honor  you  have  conferred  upon 
him.  His  name  awakens  in  my  mind  the  recollection,  not 
only  of  the  brave  spirits  of  his  own  state,  who  have  survived 
the  perils  of  many  a  well-fought  field,  but  also  of  those  who 
have  sealed  with  their  blood  their  devotion  to  their  country. 
The  last  time  I  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  conversing  with  him 
was  upon  an  occasion  when  the  officers  and  men  of  the  first  and 


222  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

second  regiments  of  New  York  Volunteers  honored  me  by  des 
ignating  me  as  their  agent  to  present  a  sword  to  Lieutenant 
Morris  for  his  gallantry  and  good  conduct  in  the  encounter  of 
Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  and  who  was  subsequently 
killed  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Molino  del  Rey.  He  was  a  grand' 
son  of  Robert  Morris,  of  revolutionary  fame,  who  is  justly  cher 
ished  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  many  bright  names 
that  adorn  the  annals  of  your  state. 

"  Well  did  he  sustain  the  heritage  of  patriotism  bequeathed 
to  him.  I  knew  him,  esteemed  him,  loved  him,  and  can  scarcely 
realize  that  I  shall  see  his  face  no  more.  It  seems  but  yester 
day  that,  buoyant  with  hope,  and  panting  for  future  distinc 
tion,  with  a  heart  which  was  the  home  of  courage  as  of  filial 
piety,  he  turned  his  step  toward  Mexico,  and  as  he  bade  his 
gray-haired  parent  what  to  neither  of  them  seemed  an  eternal 
farewell,  he  exclaimed,  in  the  language  and  in  the  agony  of 
Esau,  '  Bless  me,  even  me,  oh  my  father !' 

" But  why  do  I  drag  before  you  a  sorrow  so  sacred? 

"  *  That  ark  of  grief,  let  me  not  touch  presumptuous.'  Let 
me  rather  call  to  remembrance  the  soldierly  qualities  which 
made  him  beloved  in  life,  lamented  in  death,  and  which  have 
associated  his  name  with  the  glory  of  his  country.  Like  the 
brave  Baxter,  he  died  young.  But,  as  we  have  been  wisely 
warned,  the  period  allotted  to  our  mortal  existence  is  at  most 
but  a  span,  and  he  had  already  lived  longer,  and  to  nobler  pur 
poses,  than  many  whose  years  have  been  protracted  to  extreme 
old  age,  but  who  have  crept  through  life  like  some  sullen  stream 
to  a  marsh,  without  honor  or  observation.  He  met  death — 
which  must  come  to  all — boldly,  and  in  the  discharge  of  duty, 
with  the  dew  and  freshness  of  youth  upon  him,  ere  disease  or 
sorrow  had  quenched  his  spirit. 

"  While  private  affection  weeps  over  his  tomb  with  a  chas 
tened  sorrow,  a  grateful  country  will  cherish  his  memory,  fra 
grant  through  coming  years  as  incense  poured  forth." 

We  cease  to  wonder  at  the  results  achieved  in  the  face  of  so 
many  obstacles,  and  with  such  disparity  of  numbers,  by  the  ar 
mies  of  the  Republic,  when  we  recur  to  the  striking  examples 
of  intelligence  and  patriotism — of  which  this  is  but  one  instance 
in  many — by  which  their  whole  progress  has  been  illustrated, 
from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  city  of  Mexico. 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  222 

Among  the  many  published  addresses  of  Mr.  Maclay,  we  no 
tice  one  delivered  upon  the  occasion  of  the  annual  meeting,  in 
Boston,  of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society,  held  in 
Faneuil  Hall.  Among  the  speakers  we  perceive  the  names  of 
Webster,  Everett,  Winthrop,  Gushing,  Quincy,  and  others, 
In  reply  to  a  toast  complimentary  to  New  York,  Mr.  Maclay, 
after  drawing  a  comparison  between  New  York  and  Boston, 
and  alluding  to  the  historic  associations  connected  with  the 
latter,  spoke  as  follows : 

"I  may  be  pardoned,  however,  for  alluding  to  one  of  the  ef 
fects  by  which  a  cultivation  of  the  pursuits  of  your  society 
seems  invariably  accompanied.  Let  him  who  will  deny  the 
utility  (using  that  word  in  its  narrowest  sense)  of  one  of  the 
departments  of  horticulture  (to  me  the  most  delightful),  yet 
will  he  deny  that  it  furnishes  auxiliaries  to  virtue  by  substitut 
ing,  for  more  exciting  pleasures,  a  pure  and  rational  employ 
ment  ?  I  never  pass  through  the  crowded  streets  of  my  own 
city,  by  any  habitation  from  which  flowers  are  visible,  without 
feeling — however  humble  that  habitation  may  be — that  there 
dwells  beneath  that  roof  something  of  taste,  and  refinement, 
and  virtue.  W^ho  here  is  prepared  to  say  that  those  delicate 
and  fair  creations  of  the  Divine  Benignity  are  not  designed,  as 
they  are  most  assuredly  adapted,  to  awaken  other  and  higher 
emotions  in  our  bosoms  than  any  which  a  mere  perception  of 
the  beautiful  has  power  to  excite  ?  '  Consider  the  lilies  of  the 
field,  how  they  grow !'  is  the  injunction  of  that  wisdom  which 
has  connected  moral  sentiments  with  natural  objects ;  so  that 
the  student  of  Nature  may  regard  not  only  the  forms,  and  col 
oring,  and  delicate  pencilings  which  are  the  characteristics  of 
these  objects,  but  also  the  sensibilities  which  they  awaken,  and 
the  qualities  of  which  they  are  expressive.  Take  the  meanest 
flower  that  scents  the  gale,  inhale  its  perfume  ('  sweet  as  the 
breath  of  morn'),  see  its  varied  hues  (which  art  can  imitate, 
but  can  not  equal),  observe  the  harmony  pervading  its  whole 
formation,  mark  the  design  of  which  the  most  insignificant 
portion  of  it  gives  evidence,  call  in  your  thoughts  from  the  or 
dinary  pursuits  and  selfishness  of  life,  and  abandon  yourselves 
for  a  moment  to  the  images  and  the  associations  of  innocence 
and  purity  of  which  it  is  so  lovely  an  emblem,  and  how  secret 
ly,  yet  how  surely,  is  the  mind  elevated  from  the  gift  to  the 
Giver! 


224  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

'  In  that  bless'd  moment,  Nature,  throwing  wide 
Her  veil  opaque,  discloses,  with  a  smile, 
The  Author  of  her  beauties,  who,  retired 
Behind  his  own  creation,  works  unseen 
By  the  impure,  and  hears  his  power  denied.' 

"Perhaps  there  is  no  state  in  the  Union  in  which  the  science 
of  horticulture  can  be  more  successfully  pursued,  or  in  which 
a  fairer  prospect  of  benefit  to  the  great  masses  of  the  commu 
nity  is  held  out  from  its  cultivation,  than  the  State  of  Massa 
chusetts. 

"  The  surface  of  your  commonwealth  is  dotted  with  beauti 
ful  villages  and  towns,  the  inhabitants  of  which,  deriving  their 
livelihood  from  mechanical  and  manufacturing  employments, 
furnish  a  ready  and  an  increasing  market  for  horticultural 
products.  Nor  to  any  one  who  has  at  heart  the  prosperity  of 
your  state,  can  there  be  a  more  interesting  contemplation  than 
to  behold  the  obstacles  which  Nature  may  have  interposed  in 
the  character  of  the  soil  in  the  vicinity  of  these  villages  grad 
ually  giving  way  before  the  instructed  industry  of  the  horticul 
turist.  Lands  reclaimed  from  absolute  waste ;  the  rUggedness 
of  Nature  softened  by  the  means  and  appliances  of  Art ;  neat 
cottages  smiling  amid  gardens  and  orchards,  where  early  and 
late  fruits — those  raised  with  much,  and  those  with  little  care 
— are  taught  to  grow  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  cultivator. 
Thousands  of  poor  but  happy  children,  repaying,  with  their  as 
sistance,  the  love  of  their  parents,  and  trained  from  infancy  to 
habits  of  industry  and  observation,  these  are  the  results  which 
the  society  proposes  for  its  aim  and  attainment.  May  every 
prosperity  attend  its  labors !  The  formation  of  the  habits  to 
which  I  have  alluded  in  the  young  are,  of  themselves,  worth 
all  the  efforts  which  have  been  made.  Sir  James  Mackintosh 
once  very  truly  said,  that  we  think  from  our  opinions,  but  we 
act  from  our  habits. 

"  I  had  anticipated  much  gratification  from  visiting  your  ex 
hibition.  A  friend,  now  present,  when  in  New  York,  had  given 
me  a  description  of  what  I  might  expect  to  see.  I  thought  I 
had  made  sufficient  allowances  for  the  excusable  enthusiasm  of 
a  resident  of  your  state  and  a  member  of  your  society ;  but 
when  I  walked  through  the  rooms  of  the  beautiful  edifice  erect 
ed  by  the  society — above  all,  when  this  scene  of  beauty  broke 
upon  my  view,  I  felt  ready  to  exclaim,  as  the  Queen  of  Sheba 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  225 

did  when  she  came  from  afar  to  see  the  rkhes  of  Solomon, '  The 
half  has  not  been  told  me.' 

"  Without  consuming  any  more  of  your  time,  let  me  propose 
for  a  sentiment, 

"/Prosperity  to  the  city  of  Boston  and  the  Massachusetts 
Horticultural  Society.' " 

We  have  taken  notice  of  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Maclay,  by 
the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  York,  as  one  of  the  com 
missioners  to  investigate  the  affairs  of  the  New  York  and  Erie 
Rail-road  Company,  and  to  examine  into  the  complaints  made 
in  the  Legislature  against  some  of  the  locations  of  the  line  of 
this  road.  In  the  prosecution  of  this  duty,  he  went  through 
the  southern  tier  of  counties  of  the  state,  from  the  Hudson  Riv 
er  to  Lake  Erie — a  region  of  the  state  destitute  of  the  facilities 
for  travel  enjoyed  by  other  portions,  and,  therefore,  rarely  visit 
ed  by  the  tourist,  but  which  contains  scenery  far  more  varied 
and  romantic  than  can  be  found  in  the  hackneyed  route  from 
the  sea-board  to  the  Falls,  which  is  annually  thronged  by  those 
who  either  dare  not  disobey  the  behests  of  fashion,  or  are  igno 
rant  of  the  many  attractions  which  would  so  well  repay  a  far 
more  fatiguing  journey.  But  we  do  not  differ  in  this  respect 
from  other  nations.  Who  has  not  heard  of  the  lakes  of  Killar- 
ney,  for  variety  of  land  and  water  scenery  the  glory  of  the  Brit 
ish  Isles  ?  But,  although  reached  from  London  by  a  journey  of 
a  day  and  a  half,  and  this,  too,  by  rail-road  and  steamboat,  thou 
sands  annually  pass  over  to  the  Continent  instead  of  visiting 
them  ;  and,  as  one  well  qualified  to  remark  has  lately  observed, 
"  Infinitely  greater  is  the  number  of  those  who  may  speak  from  a 
personal  knowledge  of  Como  and  the  Jura,  than  of  those  who 
can  hold  discourse  of  Innisfallen  and  Glena." 

While  at  the  village  of  Owego,  in  the  course  of  the  journey 
through  the  region  of  which  we  have  spoken,  Mr.  Maclay  re 
mained  to  visit  Glen  Mary,  the  residence  of  N.  P.  Willis.  This 
visit  was  made  in  company  with  a  literary  friend,  and  the  im 
pression  produced  upon  their  minds  is  thus  gracefully  recorded : 

"  The  village  of  Owego  lies  on  the  banks  of  the  Susquehan- 
na,  which  is  at  this  point  a  lovely  and  a  gentle  stream,  only 
swelling  into  the  force  and  magnitude  of  a  mighty  river  when 
the  freshets  of  spring  and  autumn  give  it  unwonted  capacity. 
In  this  respect  the  Susquehanna  differs  from  the  Delaware, 

VOL.  I.— P 


226  HISTORY    OF   CONGRESS. 

whose  current  is  uniformly  more  swift  and  turbulent,  as,  chaf 
ing  with  every  obstacle  in  its  progress,  it  flows 

"  '  Mountain  curved  along.' 

"  Nothing  could  exceed  the  beauty  of  the  scene  which  met 
our  eye.  The  waters  sparkled  with  the  moonbeams,  the  village 
itself  was  brilliant  with  the  luster  of  the  night,  its  white  cot 
tages  gleaming  at  intervals  like  the  tiny  silver  palaces  in  the 
Eastern  fable — in  truth,  it  was  the  very  night  in  which  to  visit 
Willis ! 

"  Our  route  passed  by  many  a  pretty  dwelling  that  we  were 
half  disposed  to  believe  was  the  one  of  which  we  were  in  quest, 
but  the  distance  described  to  us  as  that  at  which  the  place  of 
our  destination  was  situate  was  not  accomplished  until  about 
three  miles  had  been  passed  over.  We  had  the  recollection  of 
Bartlett's  picture  of  Glen  Mary  very  vividly  in  our  minds,  and 
were  on  the  qui  vive  to  determine  whether  it  was  sufficiently 
accurate  to  enable  us  to  recognize  the  original.  A  faithful 
guide  it  proved  to  be,  for  we  instantly  traced  the  correctness 
of  the  pictured  similitude  in  the  first  glance  which  we  caught 
of  the  house.  It  was  situate  in  a  gorge  of  meadow-land  bor 
dering  the  Owego  Creek,  the  prettiest  of  all  the  many  daughters 
of  the  Susquehanna,  and  where  gently -flowing  waters,  skirted 
by  noble  trees,  are  the  leading  and  loveliest  pictures  of  the 
landscape.  We  were  soon  at  the  house,  which  is  a  Tuscan  cot 
tage,  with  lattices  and  portico,  and  embosomed  with  foliage. 

"It  looks — precisely  as  it  was  intended  by  its  occupant  it 
should  look — like  a  neat  and  tasteful  abode,  without  pretension  to 
any  thing  but  the  beauty  of  good  order,  and  yet  one  at  which  no 
one  could  gaze  for  a  moment  without  discovering  that  there  was 
a  fitness  and  a  propriety  about  it,  just  carrying  out  our  ideas  of 
what  a  cottage  should  be — such  a  one  as  we  do  not  find  in  books 
of  architecture,  but  in  the  simple  imaginings  of  quiet  good  taste. 

In  the  neatness  of  the  gravel-walks  which  lead  from  the  road 
side,  and  in  the  profusion  of  beautiful  shrubbery  which  is  every 
where  around,  are  seen  the  proper  accompaniments  to  this  cot 
tage  of  the  glen. 

"  '  So  sweet  a  spot  of  earth,  you  might,  I  ween, 
Have  guess'd  some  congregation  of  the  elves, 
To  sport  by  summer  moons,  had  shaped  it  for  themselves.' 

"  Willis  himself  opened  the  door  to  us,  and  a  single  glance  at 


WILLIAM  BROWN   MACLAY.  227 

the  apartment  into  which  we  were  shown  was  sufficient  to  ban 
ish  all  apprehension  lest  the  interior  of  the  dwelling  might  suffer 
by  a  contrast  with  the  charms  of  the  exterior.  There  was  no 
article  of  household  use  or  adornment  that  showed  gaudily.  It 
might  have  been  questioned  even  if  the  Parisian  man  of  furni 
ture  would  have  given  his  approbation  to  all  the  arrangements ; 
but  the  impression  made  upon  the  observer  was  that  of  exquis 
ite  good  taste,  that  had  grouped  together  the  simple  and  the 
beautiful  so  as  to  give  to  comfort  the  garb  of  neatness  and  or 
nament. 

"  I  may  not  be  more  particular  in  my  description,  lest  I  might 
seem  to  transgress  the  honorable  laws  which  govern  propriety. 
The  lady  of  the  house  was  there,  and  at  her  feet  Maida,  a  no 
ble  greyhound,  well  worthy  to  be  designated  as  was  Scott's. 
At  a  side-table  stood  a  large  tulip-shaped  vase  of  stained  glass, 
whose  burden  of  bright  flowers  was  an  ornament,  with  a  world 
of  bijoux. 

"  There  was  every  where  abundant  evidence  that  this  was  a 
chosen  house  for  literature :  curious  and  exquisite  engravings  ; 
volumes  of  the  best  poetry  of  every  land,  bound,  as  well  as  be 
seemed  such  rich  treasures  of  thought,  in  embossed  vellum  and 
gold.  Treatises  of  quaint  and  elaborate  philosophy  were  scat 
tered  negligently,  but  not  ungracefully,  around : 

"  '  How  charming  is  divine  philosophy  ! 

Not  harsh  and  crabbed,  as  dull  fools  suppose, 
But  musical  as  is  Apollo's  lute, 
And  a  perpetual  feast  of  nectar'd  sweets, 
Where  no  crude  surfeit  reigns.' 

"  In  the  corner  of  the  room  was  Willis's  bust,  of  Italian  mar 
ble,  exquisitely  chiseled  by  the  hand  of  Greenough.  For  nearly 
three  months  the  poet  and  the  sculptor  resided  together  in  the 
same  house  in  Italy,  and  then  and  there  the  work  of  modeling 
was  done.  I  recollect  to  have  formerly  seen  this  bust  in  the 
Academy  of  Design  in  New  York. 

"  By-the-way,  in  speaking  of  Greenough,  I  am  glad,  for  the 
sake  of  an  artist  I  am  proud  to  number  among  my  friends,  that 
his  celebrated  statue  of  Washington  has  been  removed  from  the 
rotunda  of  the  Capitol.  It  stood  in  what  is  usually  called  a  bad 
light,  with  no  dark  ground  for  relief,  as  in  the  case  of  the  stat 
ues  of  Peace  and  War. 


228  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  Much  of  the  harsh  criticism  which  found  its  way  into  the 
public  prints  had  its  origin  in  this  circumstance.  The  beholder, 
without  either  knowing  or  reasoning  upon  the  cause,  felt  that 
there  was  something  wanting,  and  found  fault  with  the  work 
itself  instead  of  the  accidental  position  in  which  it  was  placed. 

"  To  us,  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  literary  treasures 
of  Glen  Mary  was  the  rare  collection  of  autographs  which  was 
shown  us.  Ah  !  how  many  hands,  now  cold  in  death,  had  con 
tributed  to  this  treasure.  I  recollect  more  especially  a  transla 
tion  of  a  Greek  ode  in  the  autograph  of  Byron,  made  by  him 
when  a  boy  at  Harrow ;  notes  written  by  LAURENCE  STERNE, 
by  CHARLES  LAMB,  by  GARRICK,  by  the  unfortunate  but  gifted 
L.  E.  L.,  CAPTAINS  Ross  and  PARRY,  BASIL  HALL,  SIR  HUDSON 
LOWE,  the  family  of  BONAPARTE,  MADAM  CATALANI,  PASTA,  LEIGH 
HUNT,  HOGG,  the  Ettrick  Shepherd,  ROGERS,  CAMPBELL^  and, 
most  valuable  of  all,  by  the  unapproached  and  unapproachable 
SCOTT.  And  here,  too,  were  letters  from  the  wife  of  Byron, 
and  from 

" '  Ada,  sole  daughter  of  my  house  and  heart.' 

The  hand- writing  of  the  mother  and  daughter  could  scarcely  be 
distinguished  from  each  other,  so  striking  was  the  similarity. 
Nor  was  there  lacking  somewhat  of  a  miscellany,  for  before  us 
lay  the  *  Earl  of  Eglintorfs*  card  to  the  tournament,  and  one 
which  speaks  its  own  fame, 

"  l  Admit  two  to  the  pit. 

"'NicoL  PAGANINI.' 

"  There  was  also  here  a  queer  letter  from  Talleyrand  to  his 
secretary,  enjoining  upon  him  to  go  to  a  particular  shop  in  Par 
is,  and  be  sure  to  purchase  a  certain  kind  of  cigars !  evidently 
illustrating  to  posterity  the  rare  judgment  of  the  Bishop  of  Au- 
tun !  Canova's  '  fine  Roman  hand'  was  here  exhibited ;  and  our 
friend,  Dr.  S.,  of  Albany— orthodox  though  he  be — would  have 
welcomed  to  his  great  collection  the  autographs  of  SHELLEY, 
GODWIN,  and  MARY  WOOLSTONCRAFT,  the  attachment  of  the  last 
of  whom  to  that  child  of  genius,  the  painter  Fuseli,  forms  so 
amusing,  yet  so  sorrowful  a  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  pas 
sions.  But  I  must  reluctantly  forbear  any  further  mention  of 
these  relics,  the  examination  of  which  was  so  delightful. 

"Here  was  a  miniature   painted  by  Saunders,  miniature 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  229 

painter  to  the  King  of  Hanover,  the  back-ground  filled  up  with 
a  vase  of  flowers,  and  a  partial  view  of  a  landscape — done  so 
exquisitely  that  I  could  not  restrain  my  admiration.  If  prop 
erly  allowed  to  speak  of  the  original,  it  would  be  to  recall  how 
much  the  pleasure  of  that  visit  was  enhanced  by  her  graceful 
hospitality. 

"  A  fine  cabinet  painting  from  a  scene  in  f  Tortesa,  or  the 
Usurer,'  one  of  Willis's  own  plays,  did  not  escape  our  atten 
tion.  It  represents  Angelo,  the  painter,  drawing  up  the  sleeve 
of  Isabella.  But  let  me  quote  from  the  play  the  scene  illus 
trated  : 

"  '  Angela  (examining  her  cheek).  There  is  a  mixture 
Of  white  and  red  here  that  defeats  my  skill. 
If  you'll  forgive  me,  I'll  observe  an  instant 
How  the  bright  blood  and  the  transparent  pearl 
Melt  to  each  other ! 

"  '  Isabella  (receding  from  him).  You're  too  free,  sir! 

"  '  Angela  (with  surprise).  Madam  .' 

"  '  Isabella  (aside).  And  yet  I  think  not  so.     We 
Must  look  on  it 
To  paint  it  well. 

"  '  Angelo.  Lady,  the  daylight's  precious. 
Pray  you  turn  to  me ;  in  my  study  here, 
I've  tried  to  fancy  how  that  ivory  shoulder 
Leads  the  white  light  off  from  your  arching  neck, 
But  can  not,  for  the  envious  sleeve  that  hides  it. 
Please  you  displace  it.  (Raising  his  hand  to  the  sleeve.) 

"  '  Isabella.  Sir,  you  are  too  bold  ! 

"  '  Angelo.  Pardon  me,  lady.     Nature's  master-piece 
Should  be  beyond  your  hiding  or  my  praise : 
Were  you  less  marvelous,  I  were  too  bold: 
But  there's  a  pure  divinity  in  Beauty, 
Which  the  true  eye  of  Art  looks  on  with  reverence, 
Though,  like  angels,  it  were  all  undress'd. 
You  have  no  right  to  hide  it.'  " 

When  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Daniel  O'Connell 
reached  this  country,  many  of  our  most  distinguished  citizens 
united  to  express  their  sense  of  the  loss  which  Ireland  had  sus 
tained  in  the  person  of  her  most  distinguished  son,  who  had 
been  so  long  and  so  actively  connected  with  her  stormy  his 
tory,  and  whose  name,  even  upon  this,  side  of  the  Atlantic,  had 
become  as  familiar  in  the  mouths  of  men  as  a  household  word. 
Many  eloquent  eulogies  were  pronounced,  and  upon  an  occa 
sion  when  one  might  have  anticipated  little  else  than  fulsome 
panegyric,  much  just  discrimination  was  evinced  in  drawing 


230  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

the  lines  of  the  strongly-marked  character  of  the  great  com 
moner  whose  death  had  just  eclipsed  the  "  gayety  of  nations." 

The  sentiments  expressed  upon  this  occasion  by  Mr.  Maclay 
to  some  citizens  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  are  highly  appro 
priate.  It  is  true,  that  while  in  the  light  of  Revelation  the 
death  of  the  monarch  upon  his  throne  is  an  event  not  more  sol 
emn  than  the  dread  summons  which  calls  the  poor  peasant  from 
his  life  of  toil,  yet  there  is  a  manifest  difference  in  the  shock 
which  is  felt  in  the  two  cases,  as  also  in  the  outward  and  visi 
ble  tokens  of  sorrow  appropriate  to  each.  This  distinction  is 
happily  drawn  by  Mr.  Maclay.  He  had  alluded  to  the  famine 
in  Ireland  in  connection  with  what  he  considered  the  additional 
calamity  of  the  death  of  O'Connell,  and  said, 

"  It  was  becoming,  in  the  one  case,  in  the  citizens  of  our 
Republic  to  stretch  forth  their  hands,  and  out  of  their  abund 
ance  to  administer  to  the  necessities  of  those  who  are  ready  to 
perish,  and,  in  the  other,  it  was  equally  befitting  in  them  to 
give  expression  to  their  sympathy  in  what  may  be  considered 
a  national  calamity. 

"  We  grieve  for  the  loss  of  the  friend  of  our  youth,  or  for 
those  who  were  united  to  us  in  kindred  affection,  and  the  tears, 
which  at  the  promptings  of  Nature  bedew  their  graves,  or  are 
poured  forth  in  secret,  will  not  be  restrained,  although  Reason 
tells  us  they  are  unavailing  to  restore  the  loved  and  lost,  who 
will  gladden  our  sight  no  more  forever.  We  give  way  to  the 
softened  emotions  of  the  hour.  We  indulge  the  sacred  sorrow 
with  which  a  stranger  does  not  intermeddle,  and  refuse  to  be 
comforted  because  they  are  not.  Yet  how  deeply  soever  the 
iron  may  have  entered  our  soul,  with  these  bereavements — con 
fined  within  a  narrow  circle,  and  of  frequent  occurrence — the 
great  mass  of  mankind  can  have  but  little  sympathy  or  con 
cernment.  No  general  shock  has  been  given  to  society,  nor 
has  any  thing  occurred  of  power  sufficient  to  arrest  its  ordinary 
and  accustomed  movement. 

"  But  when  an  eloquent  voice,  whose  highest  and  sweetest 
notes  were  never  reached  but  in  pleading  the  cause  of  oppress 
ed  humanity,  is  hushed — when  a  heart,  which  beat  high  for 
love  of  country,  has  ceased  to  pulsate — when,  in  a  word,  as 
now,  one  of  the  world's  great  luminaries  has  been  extinguished, 
we  feel  that  there  is  a  manifest  propriety  in  a  general  ex- 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  231 

pression  of  sorrow  in  some  good  degree  accordant  with  a  calam 
ity  so  general. 

"  Proper  tributes  of  veneration  to  the  memory  of  the  illus 
trious  dead  are  among  the  modes  by  which  the  moral  sensibil 
ities  of  a  nation  are  awakened,  and  purified,  and  elevated. 
That  the  people  of  Switzerland  are  not  degenerated  from  the 
valor  of  Tell,  has  been  attributed,  by  some,  to  the  circumscrib 
ed  limits  of  their  confederacies,  and  by  others  to  their  mount 
ain  fortresses,  in  which  freedom  has  so  often  sought  a  refuge. 
But  something  is  justly  referable  to  the  custom  of  the  peasant 
ry,  '  who,  for  five  hundred  years  after  the  establishment  of  their 
independence,  assembled  on  the  fields  of  Morgartin  and  Lau- 
pen,  and  spread  garlands  over  the  graves  of  the  fallen  warriors, 
and  prayed  for  the  souls  of  those  who  had  died  for  their  coun 
try's  freedom 

"  And  may  we  not  hope  that  when  the  dissensions  and  diffi 
culties  of  the  present  hour  shall  have  passed  away — when  all 
that  O'Connell  accomplished  in  behalf  of  civil  and  religious  lib 
erty  shall  have  been  remembered,  and  when  all  that  he  desired 
to  accomplish  shall  have  been  attained — when  his  country  shall 
have  taken  her  place  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  thou 
sands  will  pay  the  pious  pilgrimage  to  his  final  resting-place, 
while  a  votive  offering  shall  never  be  wanting  to  the  world-re 
nowned  Liberator  of  Ireland  who  sleeps  beneath  ?  Yes ! 

"  '  Redeemer  of  dark  centuries  of  shame, 

The  forum's  champion,  and  the  people's  chief. 

While  the  tree 

Of  Freedom's  withered  trunk  puts  forth  a  leaf 
E'en  for  thy  tomb  a  garland  let  it  be.'  " 

Mr.  Maclay's  views  upon  many  questions  of  public  policy 
are  peculiar,  and  such  as  would  be  occasionally  denounced  as 
extreme,  and  exciting  wonder  in  those  who  can  not  conceive 
how  a  sincere  conviction  in  the  most  radical  opinions  can  con 
sist  with  great  moderation  in  the  expression  of  them.  In  re 
gard  to  the  public  lands,  he  has  always  considered  that  the 
amount  of  pecuniary  gain,  in  the  way  of  revenue,  to  be  derived 
from  them,  should  be  a  subordinate  consideration ;  that  their 
settlement  and  cultivation,  by  an  industrious  and  contented 
population,  was  a  matter  of  far  higher  moment  than  the  sum 
received  from  sales,  which  sometimes  is  a  mere  indication  of 
the  rage  of  speculation,  by  which  the  lands  are  taken  at  once 


232  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

from  the  market  and  the  plough ;  and  that,  in  a  word,  Con 
gress  should  abolish  its  present  policy  in  regard  to  the  public 
domain,  and  give  to  each  actual  occupant  such  a  reasonable 
portion  of  it  as  he  desired  to  cultivate. 

In  these  views,  which  we  record  merely,  without  expressing 
any  opinion  as  to  their  soundness,  Mr.  Maclay  does  not  stand 
alone ;  many  of  his  constituents  entertain  them ;  and  the  Com 
mittee  on  Public  Lands  in  the  Senate,  during  the  twenty-ninth 
Congress,  in  a  report  upon  an  application  of  the  State  of  Illinois 
for  alternate  sections  of  the  public  land  to  aid  in  the  construction 
of  a  work  of  internal  improvement,  declare,  that  if  the  policy 
had  been  adopted  at  an  early  day  of  giving  to  each  actual  set 
tler  a  quarter  section  of  the  public  land,  more  benefit  would 
have  resulted  to  the  aggregated  states  than  has  accrued  from 
the  policy  which  was  adopted  and  is  yet  pursued. 

Mr.  Maclay  has  recently  avowed  the  same  sentiment  in  a 
letter  written  by  him,  in  reply  to  an  invitation  to  address  a 
meeting  in  New  York,  of  those  who  have  associated  themselves 
for  the  purpose  of  procuring  from  Congress  a  recognition  of  the 
policy  above  indicated.  It  has  been  extensively  published,  and 
we  copy  it  entire : 

"  Among  the  numerous  evidences  of  the  progress  of  the  Free- 
soil  Doctrine  continually  accumulating,  the  following  letter  from 
Mr.  Maclay,  member  of  Congress  from  this  city,  to  the  National 
Reformers  of  the  Seventh  Ward,  who  have  invited  him  to  ad 
dress  a  public  meeting  on  the  subject,  is  by  no  means  the  least 
encouraging." — Young  America. 

"WASHINGTON,  March  18,  1848. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — I  duly  received  your  letter.  One  of  my 
children  is  very  sick,  and  this,  without  any  reference  to  public 
duties,  will  detain  me  here. 

"  Your  kindness,  however,  in  your  request,  is  not  the  less  felt 
by  me  that  I  am  not  able  to  avail  myself  of  it,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  I  can  not  conceal  from  myself  that  you  overrate  the 
influence  which  any  address  of  mine  would  have  at  a  meeting 
such  as  that  suggested  in  your  letter.  Yet  the  objects  for 
which  the  National  Reformers  are  associated  have  my  best 
wishes,  and  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  their  policy  will  find 
expression  in  some  decided  act  of  the  national  Legislature.  I 
can  express  myself  with  the  more  freedom  upon  this  subject, 


WILLIAM   BROWN   MACLAY.  233 

because,  although  frequently  a  candidate  for  public  favor,  I  have 
never  been  base  enough  either  to  relinquish  or  adopt  an  opinion 
to  gain  it,  and  no  one  who  knows  me  will  now  attribute  the 
sentiments  uttered  by  me  to  any  motive  less  honorable  than 
that  of  a  sincere  conviction. 

"  In  common  with  many  better  and  wiser  men,  I  have  been 
penetrated  with  the  profoundest  melancholy  at  every  contem 
plation  of  the  poverty,  and  wretchedness,  and  crime  to  which 
so  many  seem  hopelessly  consigned,  and  which  are  especially 
observable  in  our  large  cities.  Look  at  thousands  of  laborers, 
receiving  what  is  barely  sufficient  to  supply  the  animal  wants 
of  their  nature,  and  with  scarcely  the  hope  that  any  future  will 
ever  dawn  upon  them  which  will  find  their  condition  materially 
improved !  Look  at  the  mechanic  !  With  youth,  and  health, 
and  employment,  no  man  is  more  independent,  or,  perhaps, 
more  happy.  Yet  how  precarious  the  tenure  by  which  he  holds 
all  these !  What  provision  can  he  make  for  sickness  and  old 
age  ?  Perhaps  burdened  with  an  increasing  family,  he  can  not 
regard  each  additional  child  as  an  additional  blessing,  but,  har 
assed  with  undefined  apprehensions  of  the  future,  the  very 
sweets  of  domestic  life  are  made  bitter  to  him.  Where  are  his 
opportunities  for  intellectual  culture,  to  which  a  mind  free  from 
care  and  some  degree  of  leisure  are  absolutely  essential?' 
Chained' to  a  life  of  toil,  few  and  far  between  are  such  opportu 
nities,  and  he  bequeaths  to  his  offspring  the  same  legacy  of  hard 
ship  and  unrequited  labor.  Yet  the  two  classes  of  men  here  men 
tioned,  the  only  producers  of  wealth,  make  up  the  hulk  of  society. 
Surely  there  must  be  some  radical  defect  in  its  organization, 
requiring  the  application  of  some  new  principle  to  remove  evils 
so  great  and  so  general.  I  believe  this  principle  will  be  found, 
in  part,  in  limiting  the  quantity  of  public  land  which  each  in 
dividual  can  purchase,  confining  such  purchase  only  to  such 
persons  as  become  actual  occupants  of  the  soil,  making  the  sum 
required  for  the  purchase  merely  nominal,  and  exempting  the 
land  thus  acquired  from  alienation.  For  the  poverty  which 
afflicts,  and  the  crime  which  disgraces  society,  good  men  have 
at  different  times  suggested  different  remedies.  A  system  of 
education,  so  thorough  as  to  reach  all  classes,  has  been  propos 
ed  as  one  of  these,  and  we  have  been  told  that  by  this  instru 
mentality  crime  would  be  diminished,  and  wealth  and  happi- 


234  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

ness  multiplied.  But  experience  has  shown  that  even  this  has 
proved  delusive.  Without  referring  to  France,  take  the  more 
remarkable  case  of  Scotland,  where,  by  an  admirable  system  of 
parish  schools,  education  is  brought  to  the  door  of  the  humblest 
peasant.  Yet,  from  the  undisputed  testimony  of  one  of  her 
own  authors,  the  number  of  individuals  charged  with  serious 
offenses  is  in  England  five  times  greater  than  it  was  thirty 
years  ago,  in  Ireland  six  times,  but  in  Scotland  twenty-nine 
times. 

"  No,  my  friend,  to  prevent  crime,  remove  the  causes  which 
lead  or  impel  to  it.  Develop  in  the  working  population  the 
forethought  and  foresight  by.  which  poverty  is  in  most  cases 
avoided.  But  who  expects  in  the  present  artificial  state  of 
things  to  find  these  habits  among  those  who  (to  use  a  coarse, 
but,  alas  !  expressive  phrase)  '  live  from  hand  to  mouth  ?'  Who 
can  expect  to  see  a  sacrifice  of  the  present  to  the  future,  when, 
after  the  simplest  wants  are  supplied,  there  is  nothing  left  ?  It 
is,  therefore,  I  sympathize  deeply  with  your  views,  because 
they  hold  out  to  the  working  man  a  permanent  object  of  at 
tachment,  well  adapted  to  develop  these  habits — to  level  the  in 
equalities  of  society — the  fruitful  source  of  so  much  misery — 
and  to  make  our  country  the  strongest  in  the  world. 

"  Within  the  life-time  of  many  who  are  now  alive,  our  coun 
try  will  have  a  population  of  one  hundred  millions,  and  this, 
too,  by  immigration  and  natural  increase,  and  without  refer 
ence  being  had  to  any  future  extension  of  the  boundaries  of  our 
territory.  With  this  lapse  of  time  will  come  increased  intel 
ligence,  and  facilities  for  intercommunication.  Now,  imagine 
such  a  population  organized  into  a  great  landed  democracy,  each 
man,  who  desired  it,  sitting  under  his  own  vine  and  fig-tree 
upon  his  own  freehold !  What  diminution  of  crime  !  what  in 
crease  of  wealth  !  what  diffused  intelligence  would  then  be  ex 
hibited  !  Such  a  country  could  behold  with  sympathy,  but 
without  apprehension,  the  social  convulsions  of  other  lands,  and, 
in  a  military  point  of  view,  would  be  invincible  to  a  world  in 
arms.  We  wonder  at  the  feeble  resistance  made  by  the  Ro 
man  empire  to  the  barbarians  of  the  North,  who,  under  the 
command  of  him  who  has  not  been  inaptly  termed  the  '  Scourge 
of  God,'  threw  down  the  fabric  of  its  power.  Our  wonder 
ceases  when  the  historian  tells  us  that  all  Italy  and  Africa  was 
in  the  hands  of  seventeen  hundred  great  families,  who  cultiva- 


WILLIAM    BROWN    MAC  LAY.  235 

ted  the  lands,  thus  monopolized,  by  slaves.  Why  should  we 
expect  the  Roman  of  that  day  to  fight  ?  He  had  nothing  to 
fight  for.  May  we  profit  by  such  an  example. 

"  In  all  that  constitutes  a  free  government,  this  country  has 
been  justly  regarded  as  in  the  vanguard  of  every  other ;  but 
even  here,  where  all  power  is  in  the  hands  of,  and  emanates 
from  the  people,  the  prejudices  which  we  have  inherited  from 
our  anti-democratic  ancestors  still  exist;  and  there  are  not 
wanting  those  who  ignorantly  stigmatize,  as  agrarian  and  dis 
organizing,  doctrines  which  are  in  consonance  with  the  whole 
spirit  of  our  government,  and  which  must  ultimately  be  en 
grafted  upon  the  policy  of  the  nation,  from  a  regard  to  the  well- 
being  of  its  citizens  and  the  perpetuity  of  free  institutions. 
The  truth  is,  we  are  behind  many  other  nations  in  the  applica 
tion  of  our  political  power  to  social  reform,  and  in  much  that 
relates  to  land  gratuities,  occupancy  and  limitation.  During 
the  present  week,  I  have  received  a  communication,  in  reply  to 
a  letter  which  I  addressed  to  him,  from  General  Pedro  A.  Her- 
ran,  minister  plenipotentiary  from  New  Granada,  now  residing 
in  this  city,  and  who  was  formerly  president  of  that  republic. 
Under  that  government  every  settler  is  allowed  as  much  land 
as  he  chooses  to  cultivate  for  himself  and  family — is  protected 
in  the  exercise  of  his  religious  faith,  whatever  that  faith  may 
be — is  exempted  from  all  taxation  for  twenty  years — is  freed 
from  every  species  of  military  service — is  repaid  by  the  govern 
ment  for  the  expenses  incurred  in  his  emigration  to  New  Gran 
ada,  and  is  admitted,  from  the  moment  he  occupies  the  land,  to 
all  the  rights  and  immunities  of  any  of  its  citizens. 

"  General  Herran  concludes  his  letter  to  me  by  stating  'that 
it  gives  him  pleasure  to  say  to  me  that  his  government  will 
grant  all  the  protection  which  depends  on  its  power  to  indus 
trious  Americans'  who  should  desire  to  become  cultivators  of 
the  soil  in  that  republic. 

"  True  and  liberal  policy  in  the  concerns  of  government  are 
never  found  disunited,  and  here  is  an  illustration  of  the  union 
of  both. 

"  But  I  have  already  trespassed  beyond  limits  which  custom 
has  fixed  as  the  bound  in  which  to  acknowledge  your  letter,  and 
I  will  not,  therefore,  tax  your  patience  longer. 

"  Very  truly  yours,  W.  B.  MACLAY. 

"J.  PAUL  JONES,  Esq." 


M'lLVAINE,   ABRAHAM  ROBINSON, 

JH  AS  been  elected  for  three  successive  Congresses  to  represent 
the  seventh  district  of  Pennsylvania,  composed  of  the  county  of 
Chester.  His  paternal  ancestors  were  from  Ireland.  His  great 
grandfather,  James  M'llvaine,  with  his  wife  and  five  children, 
emigrated  from  the  county  of  Antrim  about  the  year  1740. 
John,  the  eldest  son  of  James,  was  twice  married.  He  took  for 
his  second  wife  Lydia,  daughter  of  Richard  Barnard,  of  Chester 
county,  and  settled  on  Crum  Creek,  in  Delaware  (then  Ches 
ter)  county,  Pennsylvania.  James,  the  father  of  Abraham  R., 
was  the  fifth  of  the  issue  of  this  second  marriage.  He  married 
Mary,  daughter  of  Abraham  Robinson,  of  Naaman's  Creek, 
Delaware,  and  settled  upon  a  part  of  his  father's  estate.  He 
is  still  living,  a  respectable  and  successful  tiller  of  the  soil.  Abra 
ham  Robinson  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Robinson,  who  emigra 
ted  from  Ireland,  and  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Bartholomew 
Penrose. 

Abraham  R.  is  the  second  son  of  James  M'llvaine,  and  was 
born  on  the  14th  of  August,  1804.  His  education  was  plain 
and  practical.  He  married  Anna  Garrison,  daughter  of  P. 
Mulvaney,  of  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  who  emigrated  from  Ire 
land  about  the  year  1796,  and  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Nathaniel  Calvert,  a  descendant  of  Daniel  Calvert,  who  emi 
grated  to  this  country  with  William  Penn.  Abraham  R.  was 
bred  a  farmer,  and  settled  on  Springton  Farm,  his  present  res 
idence,  in  1833.  This  property  is  beautifully  situated  on  the 
Brandywine,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county  of  Chester. 
Since  he  came  into  its  possession,  the  appearance  and  quality 
of  the  land  have  been  much  improved.  He  is  himself  an  ex 
cellent  farmer.  Understanding  well  the  theory  of  agriculture, 
and  carrying  that  theory  constantly  and  advantageously  into 
practice,  he  has  given  increased  fertility  to  his  soil,  and  beauty 
to  his  improvements.  These  results  have  not  been  attained 
236 


ABRAHAM   ROBINSON   M'!LVAINE.  237 

merely  by  planning  operations,  and  leaving  to  others  the  entire 
burden  of  their  execution  ;  for,  like  the  great  mass  of  the  farm 
ers  of  that  region,  he  puts  his  own  hand  to  the  plow.  He  is 
at  this  time  President  of  the  Agricultural  Society  of  Chester 
and  Delaware  counties. 

In  1836  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  re-elected  in  1837.  A 
nomination  for  the  State  Senate  was  tendered  him  in  1838; 
but,  as  his  private  affairs  demanded  all  his  time  and  attention, 
it  was  declined.  In  1840  he  was  selected  to  represent  his  dis 
trict  in  the  Electoral  College  of  Pennsylvania,  and,  as  is  known, 
cast  his  vote  for  the  successful  candidates  for  the  Presidency 
and  Vice-Presidency.  In  June,  1840,  he  received  a  nomination 
from  what  is  known  in  his  county  as  the  great  Whig  meet 
ing  of  the  ninth  of  that  month,  to  supply  a  vacancy  in  the  pop 
ular  branch  of  the  State  Legislature,  occasioned  by  the  death 
of  one  of  the  members ;  but  the  speaker  of  the  House  withhold 
ing  the  order  for  the  special  election,  it  never  was  held. 

Mr.  M'Uvaine  took  his  seat  as  a  Whig  member  of  the  national 
Legislature  at  the  commencement  of  the  twenty-eighth  Con 
gress.  One  of  the  great  issues  then  before  the  country  was  the 
vexed  question  of  a  protective  tariff.  To  the  consideration  of 
that  policy  his  thoughts  had  been  early  directed.  The  results 
of  his  investigation  had  placed  him  among  the  ardent  friends 
and  supporters  of  the  system ;  and  he  took  occasion  to  enforce 
his  views  in  a  speech  delivered  on  the  29th  of  April,  1844,  and 
subsequently  on  the  18th  of  June,  1846. 

He  has  stood  among  the  earliest  and  most  constant  opponents 
of  the  annexation  of  Texas.  He  spoke  against  that  measure  on 
the  25th  of  January,  1845.  He  assumed  the  position  "  that 
the  annexation  would  be  unconstitutional — injurious  to  the 
interests  of  the  free  states,  as  it  tended  to  extend  and  perpet 
uate  slavery,  and  to  involve  the  country  in  war."  On  the  26th 
of  March,  1846,  on  the  bill  to  supply  deficiencies  in  appro 
priations  made  for  certain  objects  for  the  service  of  the  fiscal 
year  ending  the  20th  of  June,  1846,  he  moved  to  strike  out  so 
much  as  provided  for  the  expense  of  the  army  in  Texas,  and  its 
transportation  thereto,  amounting  to  upward  of  eight  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  He  opposed  this  appropriation  because,  among 
other  reasons,  the  expense  for  which  it  provided  was  incurred 


238  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

without  authority  of  law,  and  because  the  sending  of  troops 
into  Texas,  then  a  distinct  and  independent  government,  was 
the  unauthorized  act  of  the  President  alone.  Mr.  M'llvaine 
was  the  first  member  of  the  House  who  openly  resisted  this  ap 
propriation  for  the  military  occupation  of  Texas — the  incipient 
step  in  the  war  with  Mexico — and,  as  he  conceived,  the  proper 
occasion  for  arresting  what  he  regarded  as  the  high-handed  as 
sumption  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  President.  In  the  course 
of  his  remarks,  he  addressed  himself  particularly  to  that  class 
of  members  who  advocate  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  Consti 
tution.  "  We  may  be  told,"  said  he,  "  by  the  chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  that  the  money  which  you  are 
about  to  appropriate  has  been  already  expended ;  that  *  the  faith 
of  the  government  is  pledged,'  as  in  the  case  of  the  Indian  Bill. 
Sir,  I  acknowledge  no  such  obligation.  The  powers  of  the 
President  are  delegated,  specific  ;  and  if  he  transcend  the  char 
ter  of  his  power — the  Constitution — he  acts  without  authority, 
and  pledges  no  faith.  The  agent  can  bind  the  principal  to  the 
extent  of  his  delegated  power,  and  no  further  ;  and  the  moment 
he  goes  beyond  that,  he  acts  by  his  own  will — imposes  no  obli 
gation,  and  pledges  no  responsibility  but  his  own.  If  the  pow 
ers  of  the  President  be  unlimited  in  this  respect,  where  is  the 
end  of  his  power — where  are  the  liberties  of  the  people  ? 

"  The  Constitution  has  placed  the  purse-strings  of  the  peo 
ple  in  the  hands  of  their  representatives.  '  No  money  shall  be 
drawn  from  the  treasury  but  in  consequence  of  appropriations 
made  by  law.'  What  does  this  mean  ?  Does  it  imply  discre 
tionary  power  in  Congress  to  judge  of  the  merits  of  appropri 
ations  which  it  is  called  upon  to  make,  or  a  positive  obligation 
to  meet  all  expenditures  which  the  President  may  choose  to 
make  in  advance  ?  Does  not  the  latter  construction  completely 
annihilate  that  wise  and  wholesome  provision  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  remove  all  checks  from  the  President,  and  place  the  treas 
ure  of  the  nation  under  his  unlimited  control?  Does  it  not 
emphatically  unite  the  purse  and  the  sword  ? 

"  Where  are  the  trusty  sentinels  now,  who  watch  with  so 
much  jealousy  the  accumulation  of  power  in  the  executive  head  ? 
Where  are  the  strict  constructionists,  who  can  not  find  power 
in  the  Constitution  to  improve  your  harbors,  clear  out  your 
rivers,  and  protect  the  labor  of  the  country  ?  Can  they  con- 


ABRAHAM   ROBINSON   M'!LVAINE.  239 

sent  to  this  unwarrantable  assumption  of  power — this  reckless 
disregard  of  constitutional  obligations  ?  Sir,  I  protest  against 
this  unnecessary,  unjust,  unconstitutional  expenditure  of  the 
people's  money,  in  the  name  of  the  freemen  whom  I  here  rep 
resent  ;  I  protest  against  it  in  the  name  of  humanity  and  just 
ice  ;  I  protest  against  it  in  the  name  of  the  Constitution.  And 
I  warn  gentlemen,  tffat  in  the  present  progress  of  public  opinion 
in  the  North,  growing  out  of  this  Texas  outrage,  every  attempt 
which  they  make  to  impose  upon  us  new  burdens  for  the  sup 
port  of  slavery,  to  the  prejudice  of  our  own  interests,  knocks 
another  stone  from  its  foundation." 

With  equal  resolution  he  has  opposed  appropriations  for  the 
"  prosecution"  of  the  war  against  Mexico.  He  declined  to  vote 
on  the  declaratory  act  of  the  13th  of  May.  In  a  speech  deliv 
ered  on  the  18th  of  June,  1846,  in  which  he  adverts  to  that 
fact,  he  is  thus  reported : 

"  He  washed  his  hands  of  this  war.  It  was  a  war  unneces 
sarily  and  unjustly  forced  upon  the  country  by  the  President, 
without  authority  of  law,  and  in  violation  of  the  Constitution, 
which  gives  to  Congress  alone  the  power  to  make  war.  He 
had  abused  the  power  vested  in  him  to  '  repel  invasion'  by  the 
invasion  of  the  territory  of  a  foreign  power,  which  had  always 
been,  and  admitted  by  him  to  be,  in  the  occupation  and  under 
the  control  of  that  power,  and  had  undertaken  to  define  by  the 
sword  a  question  of  boundary  which  Congress  had  declared 
should  be  determined  by  negotiation.  He  [Mr.  M.]  did  not  vote 
for  the  war  bill,  because  it  declared  war  to  exist  by  the  act  of 
Mexico,  which  was  grossly  and  glaringly  false ;  and  because  he 
did  not  consider  a  declaration  of  war,  with  its  distinctive  tend 
encies  upon  the  commerce  and  business  of  the  country,  neces 
sary  to  the  defense  of  our  territory.  He  would  have  voted  for 
the  supplies,  and  did  so  vote  in  Committee  of  the  Whole,  to  the 
full  extent  asked  for  ;  not  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the  war 
into  Mexico,  or  effecting  the  conquest  of  that  country,  but  to 
relieve  and  sustain  our  gallant  little  army  from  what  appeared 
to  be  imminent  danger,  and  for  the  defense  of  the  country.  But 
he  could  not  vote  for  the  bill,  objectionable  and  false  as  he  knew 
a  part  of  it  to  be,  without  an  opportunity  being  allowed  for 
consideration  or  debate,  and  designed,  as  he  believed  it  was,  to 
embarrass  a  portion  of  the  members  of  that  House  with  whom 


240  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

he  had  the  honor  to  act.  He  did  not  vote  against  it,  because 
he  did  not  wish  to  offer  any  impediment  to  the  granting  of  men 
and  money,  which,  by  the  act  of  the  President,  appeared  to  be 
necessary.  He  therefore  declined  voting  altogether." 

During  the  following  session,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1847, 
he  avowed  his  intention  to  vote  against  all  measures  for  the 
further  prosecution  of  the  war.  He  thus  states  his  reasons : 

"  The  remote  cause  of  the  war,  then,  was  the  annexation  of 
Texas ;  the  immediate,  the  military  occupation,  by  our  arms, 
of  territory  in  dispute  between  the  two  governments,  but  in  the 
possession  of  Mexico. 

"  The  act  of  May  last  declares  that  war  exists  between  this 
government  and  Mexico,  but  throws  upon  Mexico  the  onus  of 
its  commencement.  The  charge  is  as  false  in  fact,  and  unjust 
to  Mexico,  as  it  is  disingenuous  and  cowardly  in  its  authors. 
It  was  a  vile  attempt  to  cover  up  the  grossest  act  of  usurpation 
and  aggression  by  the  President  known  to  the  history  of  the 
country,  and  to  mislead  and  inflame  the  public  mind  upon  the 
momentous  question  of  war  with  a  neighboring  sister,  but  weak 
and  distracted,  republic.  It  is  a  charge  in  the  face  of  the  settled 
public  opinion  of  the  country  and  of  the  whole  civilized  world. 
The  burden  of  the  commencement  of  this  war  lies  at  the  door 
of  your  President.  Deny  it  as  you  will ;  reiterate  and  again 
reiterate  the  false  charge  against  Mexico,  the  fact  remains  un 
altered  and  unalterable. 

"  But  the  war  exists  ;  and  ample  means  for  its  vigorous  pros 
ecution  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  President  by  the  act  of 
May.  If  it  has  not  been  prosecuted  with  sufficient  vigor,  it  has 
not  been  for  want  of  means.  I  here  find  myself  called  upon,  in 
common  with  every  member  upon  this  floor,  to  take  a  stand  for 
or  against  its  further  prosecution. 

"  In  arriving  at  a  conclusion  of  what  duty  requires  of  me  in 
this  crisis,  I  shall  be  governed  by  two  things,  the  necessity  and 
object  of  the  war.  And  here  I  will  remark,  with  the  honorable 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  [Mr.  Winthrop],  who  addressed 
the  committee  some  time  ago,  that  I  am  not  one  of  those,  if 
any  there  be,  who  would,  under  all  circumstances,  withhold 
supplies  for  the  prosecution  of  an  existing  war.  So  long  as  the 
nations  of  the  earth  continue  the  barbarous  practice  of  warring 
against  each  other,  force  must  be  repelled  by  force.  And  al- 


ABRAHAM    ROBINSON    M'!LVAINE.  241 

though  I  deprecate  a  war  as  one  of  the  greatest  calamities 
which  can  befall  a  nation,  and  however  much  I  might  deplore 
any  act  of  my  country  which  would  justify  any  civilized  nation 
in  the  face  of  the  world  in  waging  war  upon  it,  yet  I  shall  at 
all  times,  and  under  all  circumstances,  be  ready  to  defend  my 
country,  to  the  last  man  and  the  last  dollar  necessary,  against 
the  attack  of  an  enemy.  Does  such  a  case  exist  ?  Is  the  pros 
ecution  of  this  war  necessary  for  the  defense  of  the  country  ? 
No  one  pretends  that  it  is. 

"  Although  Mexico  has  uniformly  claimed  sovereignty  over 
Texas,  and  declared  her  intention,  at  different  times,  to  restore 
it  to  her  confederacy,  yet  all  her  acts  and  intercourse  with  this 
government  show  conclusively  that  it  was  her  intention  and 
desire  to  negotiate  with  a  view  to  its  final  relinquishment ;  and 
nothing  but  the  obstinacy  of  the  President,  and  a  determination 
to  seize  upon  the  desired  territory  between  the  Nueces  and  the 
Rio  Grande,  rather  than  submit  it  to  the  equitable  and  consti 
tutional  test  of  negotiation,  prevented  an  amicable  arrangement, 
He  chose  to  rely  upon  might  rather  than  right,  and  thus  in 
volved  the  country  in  a  bloody  and  protracted  war. 

"Mexico  demanded  that,  antecedent  to  negotiation,  the 
American  fleet  should  be  withdrawn  from  her  coast,  that  no 
appearance  of  menace  should  overhang  her  friendly  resolves — 
not  that  the  army  should  be  withdrawn  from  Texas.  It  was 
not,  then,  for  Texas  that  Mexico  was  contending,  but  the  ex 
tent  of  Texas  and  its  equivalent. 

"  Had  the  army  of  occupation  remained  at  Corpus  Christi, 
although  a  state  of  war  might  and  would  have  existed  between 
the  two  countries  until  amicable  relations  should  be  restored  by 
negotiation,  no  hostilities  would  have  occurred.  The  President 
was  so  advised.  He  was  repeatedly  informed  by  General  Tay 
lor,  through  his  dispatches,  of  the  tranquillity  upon  the  Mexi 
can  frontier,  and  the  friendly  intercourse  between  the  people  of 
Mexico  and  those  of  Texas.  He  was  further  informed  of  the 
pacific  intentions  of  Mexico,  and  her  determination  not  to  cross 
the  Rio  Grande  with  any  military  force,  except  small  parties, 
for  the  purpose  of  '  preventing  Indian  depredations  and  illicit 
trade.' 

"  Isaac  D.  Marks,  Esq.,  formerly  United  States  consul  at 
Matamoros,  in  a  letter  to  General  Taylor,  dated  at  China,  in 

VOL.  I.— Q 


242  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

Mexico,  September  23,  1845,  and  inclosed  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  on  the  28th  of  October  following,  says :  '  I  have  the  honor 
to  inform  you  that  I  have  had  several  conferences  at  Monterey 
with  General  Mariano  Arista,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Mex 
ican  forces  on  the  frontier  of  the  Rio  Grande,  in  relation  to  the 
differences  at  present  existing  between  the  United  States  and 
Mexico,  and  am  pleased  to  state  to  you  that,  from  the  opinion 
and  views  he  made  known  to  me,  the  cabinet  of  Mexico  is  dis 
posed  to  enter  into  an  amicable  arrangement  with  the  United 
States  in  relation  to  the  boundary,  and  all  other  momentous 
questions.  *  *  * 

u<  General  Arista  pledged  his  honor  to  me  that  no  large 
body  of  Mexican  troops  should  cross  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio 
Grande ;  that  only  small  parties,  not  to  exceed  two  hundred 
men,  should  be  permitted  to  go  as  far  as  the  Arroyo  Colorado 
(twenty  leagues  from  the  Rio  Grande),  and  that  they  would 
be  strictly  ordered  only  to  prevent  Indian  depredations  and  illicit 
trade.  *  *  * 

w  i  General  Arista  spoke,  also,  of  Indian  incursions  on  the 
frontier  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  is  under  the  impression  that 
they  could  be  prevented  by  the  troops  under  your  command,  as 
the  Indians  always  come  from  the  Nueces  River.' 

"  Here  is  not  only  a  declaration  of  the  friendly  disposition  of 
Mexico,  but  the  acquiescence  of  the  Mexican  general  in  the 
jurisdiction  of  this  government  upon  the  Nueces.  But  the 
President  had  determined  to  make  *  the  line  of  the  Rio  Grande 
an  ultimatum'  in  settling  the  question  of  boundary  with  Mex 
ico,  and  General  Taylor  was  accordingly  ordered  to  take  a  po 
sition  upon  the  bank  of  that  river. 

"  Well,  sir,  what  followed  ?  The  Mexican  general  com 
manding  at  Matamoros  notified  General  Taylor,  upon  his  ar 
rival  there,  '  that  the  march  of  the  United  States  troops  through 
part  of  the  Mexican  territory  [Tamaulipas]  was  considered  as 
an  act  of  war,'  and  he  was  summoned  '  to  fall  back  beyond  the 
River  Nueces ,'  not  the  Sabine,  He  was  required  to  retire  with 
in  the  borders  of  Texas,  not  beyond  them. 

"Does  this  look  like  an  intention  to  invade  our  territory? 
for  I  admit  that  the  President  was  as  firmly  bound  to  defend 
'  the  territory  properly  within,  and  rightfully  belonging  to,  Tex 
as'  as  any  other  state  of  the  Union,  for  it  had  been  brought 


ABRAHAM   ROBINSON   M'!LVAINE.  243 

into  the  Union  under  the  form  of  law,  if  not  by  authority  of 
the  Constitution.  And  although  I  am  ready,  at  any  moment, 
to  gratify  the  people  of  Texas,  who,  according  to  the  declara 
tion  of  one  of  their  representatives  here  [Mr.  Pillsbury],  would 
rather  be  out  of  the  Union  than  in  it — and  in  this  I  believe  I 
have  the  sentiment  of  the  nation  with  me — I  concede  that,  so 
long  as  she  remains  a  state  of  the  Union,  she  is  entitled  to  equal 
protection  and  immunities  with  the  other  states.  But,  I  ask, 
what  evidence  have  we  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Mex 
ican  government  to  invade  the  soil  of  Texas  ? 

"  The  President,  in  his  message,  says :  '  On  the  18th  of 
April,  1846,  General  Paredes  addressed  a  letter  to  the  com 
mander  on  the  frontier,'  directing  him  to  *  take  the  initiative 
against  the,  enemy.'  But  this  was  more  than  a  month  after 
General  Taylor  had,  by  order  of  the  President,  broken  up  his 
camp  at  Corpus  Christ!  and  marched  into  the  disputed  territory. 
The  order  to  the  commander  was,  that  '  the  troops  which  thus 
act  as  enemies  be  ordered  to  be  repelled.  From  this  day  be 
gins  our  defensive  war  ;  and  every  point  of  our  territory  attack 
ed  or  invaded  shall  be  defended}  This,  instead  of  proving  a 
purpose  of  invasion  in  Mexico,  is  all  purely  defensive.  There 
was,  then,  no  danger  of  invasion  from  Mexico,  had  the  Presi 
dent  suffered  the  army  to  remain  within  the  borders  of  Texas, 
and  negotiated  with  her  upon  terms  which  she  contended  her 
honor  required,  and  which  might  have  been  acceded  to  without 
any  sacrifice  of  honor  on  our  part.  She  demanded  that  the  im 
mediate  cause  of  difficulty  between  the  two  governments — the 
Texas  Question — should  be  arranged  by  a  special  commission, 
before  her  acknowledgment  of  amicable  relations  (which  had 
been  interrupted  by  the  annexation  of  Texas)  by  the  reception 
of  a  resident  minister.  Surely  that  magnanimity  which  should 
always  characterize  the  deportment  of  the  strong  toward  the 
weak,  of  the  offender  to  the  offended,  should  have  prompted  the 
President  to  have  yielded  this  point  to  the  wounded  pride  of 
Mexico ;  and  in  accepting  the  challenge  of  peace  proposed  by 
this  government,  to  have  given  her  the  choice  of  arms.  But, 
like  a  bullying  tyrant,  he  persisted  in  his  arrogant  demands, 
and  chose  the  more  summary  argument  of  the  sword,  fancying 
it,  probably,  the  more  popular,  if  not  the  most  economical  meth 
od  of  settling  a  dispute  with  poor  and  imbecile  Mexico. 


244  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"  Texas  demanded  the  boundary  of  the  Del  Norte  to  prevent 
the  escape  of  her  slaves,  and  her  demand  must  be  answered. 
It  was  the  preservation  of  this  ;  peculiar  institution'  which  led 
to  the  annexation  of  Texas  ;  it  was  this  which  required  its  ex 
tension  to  the  Del  Norte ;  and  it  is  this  which  is  passing  your 
army  into  the  heart  of  Mexico,  seizing  upon  province  after  prov 
ince,  for  the  purpose  of  extending  its  area. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Chairman,  if  hostilities  might  have  been  averted 
in  the  first  place,  and  were  provoked  by  an  act  of  aggression  on 
our  part,  what  evidence  have  we,  what  fears  have  we,  that  the 
invasion  of  our  territory  would  result  from  a  cessation  of  hos 
tilities,  and  the  withdrawal  of  our  troops  within  our  own  terri 
tory  ?  Sir,  there  are  none.  No  one  is  mad  enough  to  suppose 
that  the  country  is,  or  could  be,  in  any  danger  from  Mexico. 
She  is  poor  and  powerless  for  offensive  war.  And  however 
united  her  people  may  be  in  the  defense  of  their  homes  and  their 
firesides,  and  however  able  she  may  be  to  maintain  a  resolute 
and  protracted  defensive  war,  she  has  neither  the  ability  nor 
the  heart  to  engage  in  a  war  of  invasion.  She  contested  suc 
cessfully  for  long  years  the  power  of  Spain  upon  her  own  soil ; 
and  by  that  indomitable  spirit  of  resistance,  which  has  been  de 
nominated  by  a  learned  senator  [Mr.  Cass]  '  the  characteristic 
obstinacy  of  the  Castilian  race,'  succeeded  in  throwing  off  the 
Spanish  yoke,  but  was  repulsed,  and  her  army,  with  its  chosen 
leader,  captured  by  a  handful  of  Texans  whenever  she  stepped 
beyond  the  smoke  of  her  own  fires. 

"  In  warring  for  the  subjugation  of  Texas,  she  would  be  con 
tending  for  a  mere  abstraction — a  something  which  she  could 
not  enjoy.  If  she  had  it,  she  could  not  hold  it :  a  people  differ 
ent  in  race,  in  religion,  in  every  thing  which  goes  to  make  up 
the  national  character.  It  is  as  absurd  to  suppose  that  Texas 
could  again  become  or  remain  a  province  of  Mexico,  as  that  the 
Mexican  provinces  could,  with  safety  to  our  institutions,  become 
states  of  this  Union.  But  even  should  Mexico  be  mad  enough 
to  attempt  an  invasion  of  our  territory,  still  there  is  no  necessi 
ty  for  increased  means  of  defense  on  our  part.  The  regular 
army,  with  one  fourth  of  its  present  strength,  could  success 
fully  defend  the  whole  Texan  frontier.  Indeed,  the  honorable 
member  from  the  Western  District  [Mr.  Pillsbury]  tells  us  that 
Texas  can  defend  herself  against  any  force  that  Mexico  can 


ABRAHAM   ROBINSON   M'!LVAINE.  245 

bring  against  her ;  and  I  believe  she  could.  She  did  it  when 
she  was  much  younger  and  weaker,  and  why  should  she  not  do 
it  now  ? 

"  If,  then,  the  prosecution  of  this  war  is  not  necessary  for  the 
defense  of  the  country,  what  is  its  object  ?  Sir,  it  is  CONQUEST 
- — it  is  THE  ACQUISITION  OF  TERRITORY.  This  is  the  stimulant 
which  has  excited  the  maw  of  the  President  to  gulp  in  province 
after  province,  and  yearn  for  a  continent.  This  spirit  it  was 
which  prompted  him  to  '  congratulate'  us,  upon  our  assembling 
here,  upon  '  the  success  which  has  attended  our  military  and 
naval  operations.'  '  In  less  than  seven  months,'  continues  he, 
'  we  have  acquired  military  possession  of  the  Mexican  provin 
ces  of  New  Mexico,  New  Leon,  Coahuila,  Tamaulipas,  and  the 
Californias,  a  territory  larger  in  extent  than  that  embraced  in 
the  original  thirteen  states  of  the  Union.'  And  yet  he  proceeds 
to  say,  '  The  war  has  not  been  waged  with  a  view  to  conquest !' 
and  thus  defines  its  object :  '  But,  having  been  commenced  by 
Mexico,  it  has  been  carried  into  the  enemy's  country,  and  will 
be  vigorously  prosecuted  there,  with  a  view  to  obtain  an  hon 
orable  peace,  and  thereby  secure  ample  indemnity  for  the  ex 
penses  of  the  war,  as  well  as  to  our  much-injured  citizens,  who 
hold  la,rge  pecuniary  demands  against  Mexico.'  Now,  Mr. 
Chairman,  leaving  out  that  threadbare  assertion,  '  having  been 
commenced  by  Mexico,'  which  the  followers  of  the  President 
may  learn  to  repeat,  but  can  never  believe,  what,  I  ask,  is  it 
but  a  war  for  the  acquisition  of  territory — a  war  for  conquest  ? 

"  But  the  President  admits — his  friends  here  avow  it — it  was 
declared  by  the  official  mouth-piece  of  the  President  in  the  Sen 
ate,  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  a  few 
days  ago,  that  territory  is  to  be  acquired  by  this  war.  The 
amount  of  it  is,  the  President  will  not  invade  Mexico  for  the 
purpose  of  seizing  upon  her  provinces,  but  he  will  prosecute  a 
war  of  invasion  for  a  paltry  claim  which  Mexico  had  agreed  to 
pay,  and  had  in  part  paid,  and  then  hold  her  territory  as  an  in- 
demnity  for  the  expense  of  the  war. 

"  Now  it  matters  not  whether  conquest  be  the  object  or  the 
incident  of  the  war.  It  is  equally  wrong  if  the  war  be  in  itself 
aggressive  and  unjust.  That  it  is  aggressive  has  been  already 
shown.  Indeed,  it  is  evident  that  the  President  himself  so  con 
siders  it,  from  his  long  and  labored  apology  for  its  commence- 


246  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

ment.  The  recovery  of  claims  was  an  after-thought — a  miser 
able  pretext  for  a  known  wrong,  which  can  neither  be  justified 
by  any  principle  of  justice,  humanity,  or  economy.  His  rigma 
role  of  wrongs,  magnified  and  distorted,  perpetrated  by  Mexico 
upon  our  citizens  and  flag,  were,  he  says,  '  ample  cause  of  war.' 
Why,  the  offense  against  the  national  honor,  and  the  injury 
done  our  citizens,  were  all  wiped  out  by  the  treaties  of  1839  and 
1842.  It  was  then  reduced  to  a  simple  matter  of  dollars  and 
cents ;  and  it  is  upon  this  that  the  President  now  bases  this  de 
structive  and  expensive  war.  Really  Us  financial  are  little  bet 
ter  than  its  moral  features. 

"  I  repeat,  sir,  this  war  is  a  war  of  conquest — a  war  for  the 
acquisition  of  territory,  and  nothing  else.  With  the  adminis 
tration  and  its  supporters  in  the  South,  it  is  a  war  for  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery.  It  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  Texas  project,  and 
for  the  same  ends.*  With  the  democracy  of  the  North  it  is 
equally  a  war  for  the  acquisition  of  territory,  but  with  the  ex 
clusion  of  slavery ;  if,  indeed,  they  be  sincere  in  that,  which  I 
very  much  doubt.  Some,  I  believe,  are. 

"  Now,  I  ask,  is  there  a  Democrat  upon  this  floor  who  will 
vote  another  man  or  another  dollar  for  the  prosecution  of  this 
war,  if  territory  can  not  be  acquired  by  it  ?  No,  not  one. 

"  Well,  sir,  I  am  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  another  inch 
of  slave  territory.  And  I  will  here  repeat  what  has  already 
been  declared  by  several  gentlemen  of  both  parties  during  this 
debate,  that,  with  the  people  of  the  North,  this  is  no  longer  an 
open  question.  It  is  a  fact,  and  a  fixed  fact.  Not  another  foot 
of  slave  territory  will  ever,  with  their  consent,  be  added  to  this 
Union.  We  are  not  disposed  to  quarrel  with  our  brethren  of 
the  South  about  slavery  in  the  states  where  it  now  exists,  and 
which  no  power  in  this  government  can  reach ;  but,  believing 
it  to  be  an  evil,  moral  and  political,  we  demand  that  the  power 
of  the  government  shall  not  be  applied  to  its  extension. 

"  But,  sir,  I  am  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory, 
and  especially  by  conquest.  I  deny  that  there  is  any  power  in 

*  From  the  Charleston  (South  Carolina)  Courier. 

"  Every  battle  fought  in  Mexico,  and  every  dollar  spent  there,  but  insures  the 
acquisition  of  territory  which  must  widen  the  field  of  Southern  enterprise  and 
power  in  future  ;  and  the  final  result  will  be,  to  readjust  the  balance  of  power  by 
the  confederacy  so  as  to  give  us  control  over  the  operations  of  government  in  all 
time  to  come" 


ABRAHAM   ROBINSON   M'!LVAINE.  247 

this  government,  expressed  or  implied,  to  acquire  territory  in 
that  way.  It  is  contrary  to  the  very  spirit  and  object  of  the 
compact,  which  is  but  a  union  of  sovereign  states  for  purposes 
of  mutual  protection  and  defense.  I  believe  we  have  territory 
enough — and  particularly  such  territory  as  those  conquered  prov 
inces  of  Mexico,  which  have  not  an  acre  in  a  hundred,  or  in  five 
hundred,  that  any  North  American  would  have  as  a  gift.  But 
the  mere  acquisition  of  territory  is  not  the  worst  feature  of  con 
quest.  You  propose  bringing  into  this  Union  numerous  prov 
inces  '  inhabited  by  a  considerable  population'  (in  the  language 
of  the  President),  regardless  of  their  will ;  thus  subverting  that 
great  principle  of  Republican  liberty,  which  accords  to  the  peo 
ple  the  right  of  choosing  their  own  government.  Free  and  mu 
nificent  as  ours  may  be,  it  is  only  so  because  it  is  voluntarily 
assumed.  Throw  your  political  system  around  a  people  with 
out  their  consent,  and  you  perpetrate  the  darkest  deed  of  des 
potism — you  deny  them  the  freedom  of  choice. 

"  I  know  that  our  system  of  government  is  expansive  in  its 
nature ;  but  there  is  nothing  known  to  the  art  of  man  which 
may  not  be  destroyed  by  over-tension.  It  will  expand  as  fast 
and  as  far  as  your  people  expand,  and  are  ready  for  its  protect 
ing  mantle.  But  when  you  propose  spreading  it  by  a  single 
stroke  over  a  whole  series  of  provinces,  if  not  an  entire  repub 
lic,  peopled  with  a  race  different  from  our  own  in  language, 
habits,  and  religion,  without  their  consent,  you  give  it  a  tenuity 
which  the  first  rude  blast  will  destroy. 

"  But  I  am  opposed  to  this  war  upon  other  and  higher  grounds. 
Much  as  I  should  deprecate  the  extension  of  slavery  over  terri 
tory  now  free,  and  a  system  of  wild  expansion  which  subverts  the 
principles  and  threatens  the  very  existence  of  the  Union,  still 
more  do  I  deprecate  its  dark  and  damning  crime — its  useless 
and  horrible  sacrifice  of  human  life,  and  the  train  of  misery  and 
woe  which  it  brings  to  the  bosom  of  many  a  widow  and  orphan 
thus  cruelly  deprived  of  a  husband  and  a  father.  Time,  in  its 
eventful  progress,  might  free  the  slave  of  his  shackles,  and  build 
up  governments  upon  the  scattered  ruins  of  this  republic,  but 
it  can  never  restore  life  to  the  dead,  or  heal  the  heart  of  the  be 
reaved.  The  memory  of  the  dead  and  the  tear  of  the  afflicted 
will  endure  with  life,  monuments  of  the  fruits  of  this  unholy 
war. 


248  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

"  The  dreadful  alternative  of  war  surely  should  not  be  resort 
ed  to  upon  trivial  grounds.  It  can  be  justified  only  as  a  last 
resort ;  and  then  for  cause,  palpable  and  indisputable ;  a  ne 
cessity  not  to  be  measured  by  dollars  or  acres,  but  imperious 
and  unavoidable.  In  my  opinion,  this  war  rests  upon  no  such 
necessity. 

"  But  we  are  told  that  the  merits  of  the  war  are  not  now  in 
question ;  that  the  country  is  involved  in  it ;  the  Constitution 
places  its  conduct  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  and  we  are 
bound  to  grant  him  the  supplies  necessary  for  its  prosecution ; 
upon  him  rests  the  responsibility.  Well,  I  admit  that  those 
who  approve  of  this  war,  and  are  in  favor  of  prosecuting  it  for 
the  ends  proposed,  are  bound  to  grant  the  means.  But,  sir,  I 
deny  that  any  such  obligation  rests  upon  me.  As  a  represent 
ative  upon  this  floor,  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  of  my 
country,  I  dare  not  skulk  behind  the  responsibility  of  any  man, 
however  high  or  however  low,  upon  questions  vital  to  the  Con 
stitution,  and,  as  I  believe,  to  the  honor  and  interests  of  my 
country.  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  this  is  a  war,  not  of 
defense,  but  of  offense  ;  that  it  is  not  conservative,  but  destruct 
ive  ;  and  I  wish  to  bear  this  discrimination  in  mind. 

"  Wars,  I  have  believed,  are  declared  for  cause,  and  they  are 
prosecuted  for  their  intrinsic  merit.  The  merit  of  an  existing 
war  is  a  matter  of  opinion,  and,  under  our  republican  system, 
it  will  cease  or  continue  as  the  majority  shall  determine.  But 
the  fact  that  this  war  of  rapine  and  blood  has  a  majority  in  its 
support,  can  impose  no  obligation  upon  the  minority,  nor  release 
it  from  its  responsibility  to  the  country.  On  the  contrary,  as 
majorities  are  made  up  of  individuals,  and  the  question  of  peace 
or  war  may  turn  upon  a  single  vote,  accountability  is  single, 
and  not  collective. 

"  The  majority  have  the  control  of  the  means  ;  the  aid  of  the 
minority  is  therefore  not  necessary,  but  gratuitous.  The  war 
will  continue  as  long  as  the  majority  desire  it,  and  no  longer. 
And  every  man  is,  therefore,  in  my  judgment,  bound  to  him 
self,  his  country,  and  his  God,  to  take  one  side  or  the  other. 
He  can  not  be  against  the  war  and  for  it  at  the  same  time. 
He  can  not  be  opposed  to  its  further  prosecution,  and  yet  con 
tribute  to  that  prosecution,  seeing  that  the  safety  of  the  coun 
try  would  not  be  endangered  by  its  discontinuance,  nor  its  hon- 


ABRAHAM    ROBINSON    M'!LVAINE  249 

or  compromised.     His  only  power  is  his  vote,  and  it  is  his  vote 
which  will  indicate  his  choice. 

"  Now,  I  am  opposed  to  the  prosecution  of  this  war.  My 
people  are  opposed  to  it.  They  have  spoken  in  terms  not  to  be 
disregarded  or  misunderstood.  And,  being  thus  opposed  to  it,l 
shall  vote  against  all  measures  intended  for  its  further  prose 
cution.  This  is  the  only  means  of  prevention  within  my  pow 
er.  It  is  the  means,  and  the  only  means,  provided  by  the  Con 
stitution,  and  it  is  the  very  means  contemplated  by  the  fram- 
ers  of  that  instrument,  as  their  proceedings  show. 

"I  believe  this  war  to  be  wrong  from  beginning  to  end — 
wrong  in  its  inception,  wrong  in  its  prosecution,  wrong  in  its 
designs  and  ends ;  and  I  shall  vote  according  to  my  convictions. 
I  can  not  see  how  a  war  wrong  in  all  its  parts  can  be  justly  or 
honorably  prosecuted. 

"  As  I  have  already  said,  were  the  safety  or  the  honor  of  the 
country  involved  in  the  conflict,  I  should  be  ready  to  maintain 
firmly,  and  by  every  necessary  means,  their  defense.  But,  Mr. 
Chairman,  this  is  not  the  country's  war — such  a  one  as  de 
mands  the  co-operation  and  aid  of  every  patriot  heart.  It  is 
unworthy  of  being  dignified  with  the  name.  It  is  a  miserable 
political — a  party  game,  in  which  the  stakes  are  personal  and 
party  aggrandizement,  and  the  die  the  treasure  of  the  country, 
the  lives  of  thousands  of  your  fellow-beings,  and  the  tears  of 
tens  of  thousands  of  innocent  women  and  children.  It  is  a 
heartless,  a  soulless  game,  and  I  can  take  no  hand  in  it. 

"  Did  I  believe — as  I  do  not — that  the  voice  of  the  people 
was  for  war — indiscriminate  war,  I  would  exert  my  feeble  in 
fluence  to  correct  the  public  taste  rather  than  cater  for  its  mor 
bid  appetite ;  I  would  appeal  to  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of 
the  people  rather  than  their  sordid  passions. 

•  "  But  I  do  not  believe  that  the  people  are  in  favor  of  this  war. 
I  do  not  believe  they  are  willing  to  cut  the  throats  of  the  Mex 
icans,  and  murder  their  women  and  children,  that  they  may 
plunder  them  of  their  territory. 

"  For  myself  I  say,  unhesitatingly,  withdraw  your  troops 
within  your  acknowledged  territory,  propose  to  Mexico  terms 
of  peace  just  and  honorable,  and  she  will  not,  she  dare  not  re 
fuse  them.  Put  yourself  in  the  right,  and  the  country  and  the 
world  will  sustain  you." 


250  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

It  is  understood  that  the  constituents  of  Mr.  M'Hvaine  have 
fully  sustained  him  in  the  course  of  conduct,  so  precarious  as 
to  its  personal  results,  which  he  has  thought  proper  to  adopt. 
He  claims  credit  for  at  least  honesty  of  purpose,  and  independ 
ence  of  thought  and  action. 

He  is  an  attentive  and  industrious  member  of  the  House. 
His  manners  are  plain  and  unassuming,  his  address  quiet  and 
gentlemanly.  He  enters  into  public  debate  with  much  reluct 
ance.  His  style  of  speaking  is  altogether  conversational.  At 
home,  he  is  said  to  possess  the  personal  esteem  of  men  of  all 
parties,  since,  however  much  some  of  his  neighbors  may  differ 
with  him  on  political  matters,  the  excellence  of  his  private  char 
acter  commands  their  respect,  while  his  disposition  to  extend 
to  them  such  kind  offices  as  may  be  within  his  power  secures 
their  friendship 


ilS  ON 

youngest  son 

o  removed  from  North  Carolina  in 
.•Dfjokt,  tker»  a    -  v  here 

Hngi<  born,     "i  cared 

bis  cl 

sure  their  usef  ulncc 8  ... ••  w     * < -.« •<•>*.       

posterity  of*i  :olfrtoH&B       i  +o  sec^-e  i 

. 

•:•*!  at  tl"<  -ighborh; 


In   3«i 

bifltf^f  to  tl^  tk'p  lew.     In  Georgia  tfifi^B  is  m>  tipje 

•s  a  })rcreqni,->ite  to  admission  1#  thal3ar. 

•7(^n«iiog  to  claini 

The 

?t  he -ahmild  bo 

\\itlimit  delay.  By  con?»timt 
•ths  to  feike  Ids  place  .gi .<^ 
^le  hafl  not  v;4.  i^- 
ij«Jr ;-ttotit  tluti  u?tw^  fe& 
couia  nuc,  witnout  legislative  interposition,  be  admitted  to  prac 
tice.  Taking  into  consideration  his  circumstances  and  charac 
ter,  the  Legislature  passed  a  special  act  authorizing  his  exam- 

251 


252  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

ination,  and  granting  him  permission  to  enter  upon  the  duties 
of  his  profession.  Though  young,  and  entering  a  bar  already 
crowded,  yet  he  very  soon  had  the  good  fortune  to  enjoy  a  lib 
eral  share  of  the  business  of  the  courts.  It  was  his  good  for 
tune  to  command  the  friendship  and  respect  of  his  associates, 
while  he  won  the  favor  of  the  people. 

In  the  winter  of  1828  he  married  Caroline  M.  Lewis,  the 
daughter  of  Judge  Nicholas  Lewis,  of  Greensborough,  Georgia, 
by  whom  he  has,  living,  four  daughters  and  one  son. 

After  his  marriage  he  removed  from  Monroe,  Walton  county, 
where  he  first  entered  upon  his  profession,  to  La  Grange,  Troup 
county,  where  he  has  since  resided. 

Continuing  the  practice  of  the  law  with  great  success,  he 
nevertheless  devoted  part  of  his  time  to  agriculture,  in  which 
pursuit  he  was  equally  fortunate.  He  took  a  deep  interest, 
however,  in  the  political  movements  of  the  day.  From  his 
early  youth  he  had  been  devoted  to  the  political  doctrines  taught 
by  Jefferson  and  Madison,  and  had  always  opposed  any  exer 
cise  of  power  on  the  part  of  the  general  government  which 
he  thought  threatened  to  infringe  on  the  rights  of  the  States. 
In  1831  and  in  1832  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  where  he  maintained  the  principles  he  professed  with  abil 
ity  and  firmness. 

For  a  few  years  he  withdrew  from  public  life,  in  order  to  de 
vote  more  time  and  attention  to  his  private  affairs.  He  was, 
however,  called  from  his  retirement  into  the  service  of  the  state 
during  the  disastrous  derangement  of  the  monetary  concerns  of 
the  country.  His  principles  had  always  led  him  to  oppose  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  wide-spread  issues  of  paper 
money.  In.  1837,  as  the  well-known  advocate  of  these  opinions, 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  his  state,  an  office,  the  duties 
of  wrhich  were  so  discharged  by  him  as  to  secure  his  return  to 
the  same  body  in  1838,  without  opposition. 

He  had  always  manifested  some  partiality  for  military  life  ; 
and,  during  the  Indian  disturbances,  was  found,  without  being 
called,  at  the  head  of  a  company  of  citizen  volunteers,  afford 
ing  relief  and  protection  to  the  settlements.  In  the  last  year 
of  his  service  in  the  Senate,  he  was  elected,  by  the  Legislature, 
to  a  major-general's  command  of  militia,  which  command  he 
still  retains.  In  that  character,  immediately  after  the  com- 


HUGH  ANDERSON  HARALSON.       253 

mencement  of  the  Mexican  war,  he  tendered  his  services  to  the 
governor  of  his  state,  and  subsequently  to  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

In  1840,  he  exhibited  the  sincerity  of  his  attachment  to  the 
political  doctrines  he  professed,  amid  the  denunciations  of  kin- 
dred  and  friends,  whose  love  and  respect  he  held  but  in  little 
less  estimation  than  his  own  character  and  honor.  The  expan 
sion  of  paper  money,  the  facility  of  credit,  and  a  boundless  rage 
for  speculation,  had  involved  the  whole  country  in  disasters,  from 
which  relief,  in  some  shape,  was  anxiously  sought.  Without 
examining  the  causes  of  the  prevailing  distress,  there  were 
many  persons  who,  concluding  that  no  change  could  make  the 
condition  of  things  worse  than  it  actually  was,  were  prepared 
to  adopt  any  expedient  which  might  hold  out  even  a  hope  of  re 
lief.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  former  party-friends  were 
clamorous  for  a  new  order  of  things.  Old  party-lines  were  brok 
en  down,  and  new  party-names  assumed.  The  State  Rights 
party,  with  which  General  Haralson  had  hitherto  acted,  gave 
up  the  name  of  "  State  Rights,"  and  assumed  the  name  of 
"Whig."  They  soon  became  the  friends  and  advocates  of  a 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  a  protective  tariff,  and  other  meas 
ures  which,  as  State  Rights  men,  it  was  said,  they  had  always 
opposed.  The  general  met  with  determined  opposition  this 
change  of  sentiment  in  his  old  associates  and  former  political 
friends.  The  state,  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  went  in  favor  of 
the  Whigs  in  1840.  In  the  campaign  of  1842,  the  Democratic 
party  selected  their  strongest  men  for  the  Congressional  contest, 
and  General  Haralson  was  among  them.  The  result  was  suc 
cessful,  and  he  was  elected  a  representative  of  the  state  in  the 
twenty-eighth  Congress,  by  the  general  ticket  system.  In  the 
controversy  which  followed  [see  title,  HOWELL,  COBB],  he  took 
a  prominent  part  in  defending  and  vindicating  what  he  con 
ceived  to  be  the  clearly-defined  rights  of  his  state.  Before  the 
next  succeeding  Congressional  election  in  1844,  the  State  of 
Georgia  was  divided  into  Congressional  districts.  The  district 
in  which  General  Haralson  resides — known  as  the  fourth— was 
organized  with  a  Whig  majority.  He  was,  nevertheless,  nom 
inated  by  the  Democratic  party,  and  was  elected  by  a  large  ma 
jority  to  the  twenty-ninth  Congress ;  and  in  1846  he  was  elect 
ed  for  the  third  time. 


254  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

Under  the  views  entertained  by  Mr.  Haralson  of  the  princi 
ples  and  policy  of  our  government,  he  has  felt  it  his  duty  to  sup 
port  the  present  administration  in  most  of  the  measures  it  has 
proposed.  We  note,  as  an  exception,  the  recommendation  of 
the  President,  at  the  last  session,  for  the  appointment  of  a  lieu 
tenant-general  to  take  command  of  all  the  forces  in  the  field. 
That  proposition  met  the  decided  disapprobation  of  Mr.  Haral 
son  ;  and  while  he  regretted  the  necessity  of  differing  from  the 
administration  and  many  of  his  political  friends,  yet  a  sense 
of  duty,  and  the  judgment  he  had  formed  of  the  interests  of  the 
public  service,  left  him  no  alternative  but  to  oppose  this  execu 
tive  project. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1847,  the  President  transmitted  to 
the  two  houses  of  Congress  the  following  message : 

"  To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 

"  In  order  to  prosecute  the  war  against  Mexico  with  vigor 
and  success,  it  is  necessary  that  authority  should  be  promptly 
given  by  Congress  to  increase  the  regular  army,  and  to  remedy 
existing  defects  in  its  organization.  With  this  view,  your  fa 
vorable  attention  is  invited  to  the  annual  report  of  the  Secreta 
ry  of  War,  which  accompanied  my  message  of  the  8th  instant, 
in  which  he  recommends  that  ten  additional  regiments  of  reg 
ular  troops  shall  be  raised  to  serve  during  the  war. 

"  Of  the  additional  regiments  of  volunteers  which  have  been 
called  for  from  several  of  the  states,  some  have  been  promptly 
raised ;  but  this  has  not  been  the  case  in  regard  to  all.  The 
existing  law,  requiring  that  they  should  be  organized  by  the  in 
dependent  action  of  the  state  governments,  has  in  some  instan 
ces  occasioned  considerable  delay,  and  it  is  yet  uncertain  when 
the  troops  required  can  be  ready  for  service  in  the  field. 

"  It  is  our  settled  policy  to  maintain,  in  time  of  peace,  as 
small  a  regular  army  as  the  exigencies  of  the  public  service 
will  permit.  In  a  state  of  war,  notwithstanding  the  great 
advantages  with  which  our  volunteer  citizen  soldiers  can  be 
brought  into  the  field,  this  small  regular  army  must  be  in 
creased  in  its  numbers  in  order  to  render  the  whole  force  more 
efficient. 

"  Additional  officers,  as  well  as  men,  then  become  indispen 
sable.  Under  the  circumstances  of  our  service,  a  peculiar  pro- 


HUGH  ANDERSON  HARALSON.       255 

priety  exists  for  increasing  the  officers,  especially  in  the  higher 
grades.  The  number  of  such  officers,  who,  from  age  and  other 
causes,  are  rendered  incapable  of  active  service  in  the  field,  has 
seriously  impaired  the  efficacy  of  the  army. 

"  From  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  it  appears  that 
about  two  thirds  of  the  whole  regimental  field  officers  are  either 
permanently  disabled,  or  are  necessarily  detached  from  their 
commands  on  other  duties.  The  long  enjoyment  of  peace  has 
prevented  us  from  experiencing  much  embarrassment  from  this 
cause  ;  but  now,  in  a  state  of  war,  conducted  in  a  foreign  coun 
try,  it  has  produced  serious  injury  to  the  public  service. 

"  An  efficient  organization  of  the  army,  composed  of  regulars 
and  volunteers,  while  prosecuting  the  war  in  Mexico,  it  is  be 
lieved,  would  require  the  appointment  of  a  general  officer  to 
take  command  of  all  our  military  forces  in  the  field. 

"  Upon  the  conclusion  of  the  war,  the  services  of  such  an  of 
ficer  would  no  longer  be  necessary,  and  should  be  dispensed  with 
upon  the  reduction  of  the  army  to  a  peace  establishment. 

"  I  recommend  that  provision  be  made  by  law  for  the  ap 
pointment  of  such  a  general  officer,  to  serve  during  the  war. 

"It  is  respectfully  recommended  that  early  action  should  bo 
had  by  Congress  upon  the  suggestions  submitted  to  their  con 
sideration,  as  necessary  to  insure  active  and  efficient  service  in 
prosecuting  the  war  before  the  present  favorable  season  for  mil 
itary  operations  in  the  enemy's  country  shall  have  passed  away. 

"  JAMES  K.  POLK. 

"WASHINGTON,  December  29,  1846." 

This  message  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Af 
fairs  of  the  House.  On  the  following  day,  that  committee, 
through  its  chairman,  Mr.  Haralson,  asked  to  be  discharged 
from  the  further  consideration  of  so  much  of  the  message  as 
related  to  the  passage  of  a  law  for  the  appointment  of  a  general 
officer,  and  that  it  be  laid  on  the  table.  The  record  says,  "  This 
motion  was  agreed  to  without  any  expressed  opposition,  and  tho 
subject  was  accordingly  laid  on  the  table." 

On  the  day  following,  a  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Hamlin, 
of  Maine,  that  the  vote  by  which  the  House  discharged  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs  from,  and  laid  upon  the  table, 
so  much  of  the  message  as  related  to  this  appointment,  be 
reconsidered;  and,  by  yeas  86,  nays  84,  the  vote  was  recon- 


256  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

sidered.  The  direct  question  was  then  again  taken  on  dis 
charging  the  committee,  and  laying  the  subject  on  the  table. 
The  affirmative  vote  was  ninety-three,  the  negative  ninety- 
seven.  And  then,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Hamlin,  this  portion  of 
the  message  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on 
the  State  of  the  Union.  That  course  was  taken,  not  in  con 
sequence  of  any  expectation  then  existing  that  the  House  would 
sanction  that  appointment,  as  it  subsequently  did,  but  from  an 
opinion,  prevalent  in  some  quarters,  that  the  proposition  of  the 
President  had  been  disposed  of  in  the  first  instance  by  a  process 
rather  too  summary,  and  which  might  bear  the  construction, 
though  not  so  designed,  that  the  House  had  refused  to  give  it 
the  respectful  consideration  usually  bestowed  upon  executive 
recommendations. 

As  time  passed,  a  great  change  took  place  in  the  opinions 
of  members  on  this  question.  On  the  9th  of  January,  1847, 
five  days  after  the  transmission  of  the  President's  Message,  the 
bill  "  to  raise,  for  a  limited  time,  an  additional  military  force, 
and  for  other  purposes,"  being  under  consideration,  Mr.  Jacob 
Thompson,  of  Mississippi,  made  the  following  amendment : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  shall  be  au 
thorized,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to 
appoint  a  lieutenant-general,  who  shall  take  command  of  our 
armies,  and  whose  term  of  service  shall  continue  during  the 
war  with  the  Republic  of  Mexico." 

This  amendment  was  rejected  by  the  following  vote : 

Yeas :  Messrs.  Stephen  Adams,  Joseph  H.  Anderson,  Charles 
S.  Benton,  James  Black,  Franklin  W.  Bowden,  James  B.  Bow- 
lin,  Linn  Boyd,  William  H.  Brockenbrough,  William  G.  Brown, 
Reuben  Chapman,  Lucien  B.  Chase,  John  S.  Chipman,  Henry 
S.  Clarke,  Howell  Cobb,  John  F.  Collin,  Alvan  Cullom,  Fran 
cis  A.  Cunningham,  John  R.  J.  Daniel,  John  De  Mott,  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  Robert  P.  Dunlap,  Samuel  S.  Ellsworth,  Jacob  Erd- 
man,  James  J.  Faran,  Henry  D.  Foster,  George  Fries,  Will 
iam  S.  Garvin,  Samuel  Gordon,  Martin  Grover,  Hannibal  Ham 
lin,  John  H.  Harmanson,  S.  Clinton  Hastings,  Thomas  J.  Hen 
ley,  Joseph  P.  Hoge,  William  J.  Hough,  George  S.  Houston, 
Orville  Hungerford,  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  James  H.  Johnson,  Jo 
seph  Johnson,  George  W.  Jones,  Seaborn  Jones,  David  S.  Kauf 
man,  Andrew  Kennedy,  Preston  King,  Shelton  F.  Leake,  Owen 


HUGH   ANDERSON   HARALSON.  257 

D.  Leib,  Emile  la  Sere,  John  H.  Lumpkin,  Moses  M'Lean, 
John  A.  M'Clernand,  John  D.  M'Crate,  William  M'Daniel,  Jo- 
seph  J.  M'Dowell,  James  M'Dowell,  James  J.  M'Kay,  John  P. 
Martin,  Barclay  Martin,  Isaac  E.  Morse,  Moses  Moulton,  Mo 
ses  Norris,  William  W.  Payne,  Augustus  L.  Perrill,  Thomas 
Perry,  John  S.  Phelps,  Timothy  Pillsbury,  George  Rathbun, 
Robert  W.  Roberts,  Joseph  Russell,  William  Sawyer,  John  F. 
Scammon,  Leonard  H.  Sims,  Robert  Smith,  Frederic  P.  Stan- 
ton,  David  A.  Starkweather,  Henry  St.  John,  Stephen  Strong, 
James  Thompson,  Jacob  Thompson,  Allen  G.  Thurman,  Will 
iam  M.  Tredway,  Horace  Wheaton,  William  W.  Wick,  Hez- 
ekiah  Williams,  and  Bradford  R.  Wood— 85. 

Nays :  Amos  Abbott,  Leonard  H.  Arnold,  George  Ashmun, 
Archibald  Atkinson,  Daniel  M.  Barringer,  Thomas  H.  Bayly, 
Henry  Bedinger,  Joshua  F.  Bell,  James  A.  Black,  John  Blanch- 
ard,  Richard  Brodhead,  Milton  Brown,  Joseph  Buffington,  Ar- 
mistead  Burt,  William  W.  Campbell,  John  H.  Campbell,  Charles 
H.  Carroll,  Charles  W.  Cathcart,  John  G.  Chapman,  Augustus 
A.  Chapman,  William  M.  Cocke,  Jacob  Collamer,  James  L.  F. 
Cottrell,  Henry  Y.  Cranston,  John  H.  Crozier,  Erastus  D.  Cul 
ver,  Edmund  S.  Dargan,  Cornelius  Darragh,  Garrett  Davis,  Co 
lumbus  Delano,  Paul  Dillingham,  Jr.,  James  Dixon,  James  C. 
Dobbin,  Alfred  Dockery,  Joseph  E.  Edsall,  John  H.  Ewing, 
Edward  H.  Ewing,  Solomon  Foot,  Meredith  P.  Gentry,  Joshua 
R.  Giddings,  William  F.  Giles,  James  Graham,  Henry  Grider, 
Joseph  Grinnell,  Artemas  Hale,  James  G.  Hampton,  Hugh  A. 
Haralson,  Alexander  Harper,  Henry  W.  Hilliard,  Elias  B. 
Holmes,  Isaac  E.  Holmes,  George  W.  Hopkins,  John  W.  Hous 
ton,  Edmund  W.  Hubard,  Samuel  D.  Hubbard,  Charles  Hud 
son,  Washington  Hunt,  James  B.  Hunt,  Robert  M.  T.  Hunter, 
Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  Timothy  Jenkins,  Andrew  Johnson,  Dan 
iel  P.  King,  Thomas  Butler  King,  John  W.  Lawrence,  Shep 
herd  Leffler,  Lewis  C.  Levin,  Abner  Lewis,  Edward  Long, 
William  B.  Maclay,  Robert  McClelland,  Robert  W.  M'Gaughey, 
John  H.  M'Henry,  Abraham  R.  M'llvaine,  George  P.  Marsh, 
William  S.  Miller,  William  A.  Moseley,  Archibald  C.  Niven, 
Robert  Dale  Owen,  John  S.  Pendleton,  James  Pollock,  Alex 
ander  Ramsey,  David  S.  Reid,  Thomas  C.  Ripley,  John  Rit- 
ter,  Julius  Rockwell,  John  A.  Rockwell,  Joseph  M.  Root,  John 
Runk,  Cullen  Sawtelle,  Robert  C.  Schenck,  Henry  J.  Seaman, 

VOL.  I.— R 


258  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

James  A.  Seddon,  Luther  Severance,  Richard  F.  Simpson,  Tru 
man  Smith,  Albert  Smith,  Thomas  Smith,  Caleb  B.  Smith, 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  John  Strohm,  Bannon  G.  Thibodeaux, 
William  P.  Thomasson,  Benjamin  Thompson,  John  W.  Tib- 
batts,  Daniel  R.  Tilden,  Robert  Toombs,  George  W.  Towns, 
Andrew  Trumbo,  Joseph  Vance,  Samuel  F.  Vinton,  John 
Wentworth,  Hugh  White,  David  Wilmot,  Robert  C.  Winthrop, 
Thomas  M.  Woodruff,  Joseph  A.  Woodward,  William  Wright, 
Bryan  R.  Young,  and  Jacob  S.  Yost — 120. 

On  the  26th  of  February,  Mr.  Boyd,  of  Kentucky,  from  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  to  whom  it  had  been  referred, 
reported  back,  with  certain  amendments,  the  bill  from  the  Sen 
ate  "  making  provision  for  an  additional  number  of  general  offi 
cers,  and  for  other  purposes."  Among  these  amendments  was 
the  following : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered,  at 
his  discretion,  to  designate  and  appoint  any  general  officer  of 
the  rank  of  major-general,  whether  of  the  line  or  by  brevet,  and 
whether  of  the  regular  army  or  of  volunteers,  who  may  be  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  without  regard  to  date  of  com 
mission,  to  the  chief  command  of  the  military  force  of  the  Unit 
ed  States,  during  the  continuance  of  the  existing  war  with 
Mexico :  Provided,  That  the  officer  so  designated  and  assigned 
shall  cease  to  exercise  the  duties  and  powers  of  general-in-chief, 
as  aforesaid,  upon  the  conclusion  and  ratification  of  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  Mexico." 

The  previous  question,  which  cut  off  debate,  was  ordered, 
and  an  unsuccessful  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Ashmun,  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  to  lay  the  bill  and  amendments  on  the  table.  -The 
reason  assigned  for  the  motion  was  the  fact  that  a  provision 
had  been  inserted  for  the  appointment  of  a  lieutenant-general. 
As,  however,  there  was  a  manifest  desire  to  discuss  the  bill, 
the  vote  ordering  the  previous  question  was  reconsidered,  and 
the  bill  and  amendments,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Garrett  Davis,  of 
Kentucky,  were  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the 
State  of  the  Union. 

After  debate,  the  amendment  specified  was  agreed  to  in  com 
mittee,  and  was  subsequently  adopted  in  the  House,  by  the  fol 
lowing  vote : 


HUGH  ANDERSON  HARALSON.       259 

Yeas :  Messrs.  Stephen  Adams,  Atkinson,  Bedinger,  Benton, 
Biggs,  James  Black,  James  A.  Black,  Bowden,  Bowlin,  Boyd, 
Brinckerhoff,  Brockenbrough,  Brodhead,  William  G.  Brown, 
Cathcart,  Reuben  Chapman,  Chase,  Chipman,  Clarke,  Cobb, 
Collin,  Cullom,  Cummins,  Cunningham,  Daniel,  Dargan,  De 
Mott,  Dobbin,  Douglas,  Dunlap,  Edsall,  Ellett,  Ellsworth,  Erd- 
man,  Faran,  Ficklin,  Foster,  Fries,  Garvin,  Goodyear,  Gordon, 
Grover,  Hamlin,  Harmanson,  Hastings,  Henley,  Hoge,  Hop 
kins,  Hough,  George  S.  Houston,  Hungerford,  James  B.  Hunt, 

C.  J.  Ingersoll,  Jenkins,  James  H.  Johnson,  Joseph  Johnson, 
George  W.  Jones,  Seaborn  Jones,  Kaufman,  Kennedy,  Preston 
King,  Lawrence,  Leake,  Leffler,  La  Sere,  Ligon,  Lumpkin, 
Maclay,  M'Clean,  M'Crate,  M'Daniel,  Joseph  J.  M'Dowell, 
James  M'Dowell,  M'Kay,  John  P.  Martin,  Barclay  Martin, 
Morris,  Morse,  Moulton,  Niven,  Norris,  Owen,  Parrish,  Payne, 
Perrill,  Phelps,  Pillsbury,  Rathbun,  Reid,  Ritter,  Roberts,  Rus 
sell,  Sawtelle,  Sawyer,  Scammon,  Alexander  D.  Sims,  Leonard 
H.  Sims,  Thomas  Smith,  Robert  Smith,  Stanton,  Starkweath 
er,  James  Thompson,  Jacob  Tfcompson,  Thurman,  Tredway, 
Wentworth,  Wheaton,  Wick,  Williams,  Wood,  Woodworth, 
and  Yost — 112. 

Nays:  Messrs.  Abbott,  John  Q.  Adams,  Arnold,  Ashmun, 
Barringer,  Bell,  Blanchard,  Milton  Brown,  Buffington,  William 
W.  Campbell,  John  H.  Campbell,  Carroll,  John  G.  Chapman, 
Augustus  A.  Chapman,  Cocke,  Collamer,  Cottrell,  Cranston, 
Crozier,  Darragh,  Garrett  Davis,  Delano,  Dixon,  Dockery, 
John  H.  Ewing,  Edwin  H.  Ewing,  Foot,  Gentry,  Giddings, 
Graham,  Grider,  Grinnell,  Hale,  Hampton,  Harper,  Henry, 
Elias  B.  Holmes,  Isaac  E.  Holmes,  John  W.  Houston,  Samuel 

D.  Hubbard.  Hudson,  Washington  Hunt,  Hunter,  Joseph  R. 
Ingersoll,  Andrew  Johnson,  Daniel  P.  King,  Thomas  Butler 
King,  Lewis,  Long,  M'Gaughey,  M'Henry,  M'llvaine,  Marsh, 
Miller,   Moseley,  Newton,   Pollock,   Ramsey,   Ripley,  Julius 
Rockwell,  John  A.  Rockwell,  Root,  Runk,  Schenck,  Seaman, 
Seddon,  Severance,  Simpson,  Truman  Smith,  Albert  Smith, 
Caleb  B.  Smith,  Stevens,  Stewart,  Strohm,  Thibodeaux,  Thom- 
asson,  Benjamin  Thompson,  Tibbatts,  Toombs,  Trumbo,  Vance, 
Vinton,  Winthrop,  Woodruff,  Woodward,  Wright,  and  Young 
—87. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  the  name  of  Mr.  Haralson  is  not  re- 


260  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

corded.  He  was  at  the  time  kept  from  his  seat  by  severe  in 
disposition. 

The  bill,  thus  amended,  was  sent  back  to  the  Senate.  That 
body,  in  the  interval  between  the  introduction  of  Mr.  Jacob 
Thompson's  original  proposition  and  that  which  finally  succeed 
ed  in  the  House,  had  also  had  under  consideration  a  bill,  re 
ported  by  Mr.  Dix,  from  its  own  Committee  on  Military  Af 
fairs,  providing  for  the  appointment  of  such  an  officer.  After 
brief  debate,  the  bill,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Mangum,  of  North  Car 
olina,  was  laid  on  the  table  by  the  following  vote  : 

Yeas:  Messrs.  Archer,  Badger,  Berrien,  Butler,  Calhoun, 
Cilley,  Thomas  Clayton,  John  M.  Clayton,  Corwin,  Crittenden, 
Davis,  Dayton,  Evans,  Greene,  Huntington,  Jarnegan,  John 
son  of  Maryland,  Johnson  of  Louisiana,  Mangum,  Miller,  More- 
head,  Pearce,  Phelps,  Simmons,  Upham,  Webster,  Woodbridge, 
and  Yulee— 28. 

Nays:  Messrs.  Allen,  Ashley,  Atchison,  Atherton,  Bayly, 
Breese,  Bright,  Cass,  Chalmers,  Dickinson,  Dix,  Fairfield, 
Hannegan,  Houston,  Niles,  Rusk,  Sevier,  Speight,  Sturgeon, 
Turney,  and  Westcott— 21. 

When  the  bill  "  making  provision  for  an  additional  number 
of  general  officers,  and  for  other  purposes,"  was  returned  to  the 
Senate  under  the  circumstances  we  have  stated,  that  body 
struck  out  the  amendment  of  the  House  making  provision  for  a 
lieutenant-general.  Several  conferences  as  to  that  and  other 
disagreeing  votes  took  place  between  committees  of  the  two 
houses.  The  result  was,  that  the  House  finally  receded  from 
this  particular  amendment,  among  others.  Hence  the  appoint 
ment  was  never  made. 

During  the  whole  term  of  his  service  prior  to  the  existing 
Congress,  Mr.  Haralson  has  been  at  the  head  of  the  Committee 
on  Military  Affairs,  including,  of  course,  the  two  sessions  of 
the  twenty-ninth  Congress,  when  public  attention  generally 
was  attracted  to  its  proceedings,  and  when  its  labors  and  re 
sponsibilities  were  of  an  unusually  heavy  character. 

In  this  connection,  we  should  disregard  that  which  we  feel 
to  be  a  just  claim  upon  our  notice,  if  we  neglected  to  bear  our 
testimony  to  the  manly  spirit  with  which  he  has  at  all  times 
stood  forth  in  defense  of  the  army  of  the  United  States.  On 
more  than  one  occasion  we  have  witnessed  the  resolution,  so 


HUGH  ANDERSON  HARALSON.       261 

often  lauded  but  so  seldom  practiced,  with  which,  in  matters 
touching  that  branch  of  the  public  service,  he  has  east  aside 
political  considerations  and  party  trammels.  We  are  unable, 
in  a  close  observation  of  his  course,  to  find  a  solitary  exception 
to  this  general  rule  of  conduct.  For  a  long  time  prior  to  the 
existence  of  the  Mexican  war,  a  strong  feeling  of  prejudice 
against  the  army  and  navy  pervaded  the  national  Legislature, 
and  they  were  daily  viewed  with  increasing  disfavor.  We  do 
not  design  to  speculate  upon  the  causes ;  the  fact  is  beyond 
dispute.  That  the  evils  and  abuses  alleged  to  exist  in  both 
these  branches  of  the  public  service  became  hobbies  upon  which 
politicians  desired  to  ride,  is  equally  certain.  To  what  extreme 
measures  these  feelings  of  prejudice  and  distrust  might  ulti 
mately  have  led,  if  not  lulled  into  quiescence  for  the  time  being 
by  the  sacrifices  of  blood  and  life  so  prodigally  demanded  and 
so  cheerfully  made,  from  Palo  Alto  to  the  gates  of  Mexico — 

"  Where  every  turf  beneath  their  feet 
Has  been  a  soldier's  sepulchre" — 

it  is  needless  for  us  to  conjecture.  Intelligent  officers  were 
themselves  aware  of  the  growth  of  this  hostility ;  and  some  such 
knowledge  it  was,  we  presume,  which,  at  a  recent  period,  and 
under  causes  more  strongly  exciting,  elicited  the  following  dec 
laration  from  a  gallant  officer  of  the  navy,  Commander  Tatt- 
nall.  In  a  letter  under  date  of  New  Orleans,  May  23,  1847, 
he  says : 

"  I  had  often  said,  substantially,  that  public  opinion  required 
more  from  the  naval  force  in  the  Gulf  than  could  be  accom 
plished  by  our  inadequate  means — that  the  service  was  losing 
caste — that  the  only  mode  whereby  the  expectations  of  the 
country  could  be  satisfied  was  to  exhibit  a  list  of  some  hund 
reds  of  killed  and  wounded — that  the  public  call  for  the  sacri 
fice,  and  that  it  must  in  some  way  be  made." 

We  have  too  high  a  respect  for  the  humanity,  as  well  as  the 
general  intelligence  of  our  countrymen,  to  believe  that  the  les 
sons  of  history  have  been  so  early  forgotten  as  to  render  it  nec 
essary  again  to  trace  them  in  letters  of  blood,  merely  to  refresh 
a  treacherous  memory,  or  uphold  a  drooping  confidence.  Nor 
do  we  think  the  people  themselves  have  ever  doubted  that  the 
spirit  which  animated  the  bosoms  of  Decatur  and  Lawrence, 
of  Perry,  and  Stewart,  and  Moiri?  and  a  host  of  others,  still 


262  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

lives  and  breathes  on  the  deck  of  an  American  ship  of  war.  We 
heard  Ogden  Hoffman,  in  one  of  those  eloquent  and  appealing 
effusions  of  his  oratory,  which  so  irresistibly  force  their  way  to 
the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  advert  to  this  point  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  Unfortunately,  we  find  no  record  of  the  speech. 

In  any  event,  the  habit  of  disparaging  the  army  and  the  navy 
had  become,  in  some  quarters,  so  settled,  that  he  was  to  be  con 
sidered  a  bold  man  who  would  rise  in  his  place  and  defend  them. 
Nevertheless,  men  of  this  stamp  were  to  be  found  in  both  par 
ties,  and  among  the  foremost  of  them  we  have  noticed  Mr.  Har- 
alson.  Wo  recollect  that,  upon  one  occasion,  it  was  urged  as 
a  grave  matter  of  accusation,  not  less  than  of  contemptuous 
ridicule,  against  General  Scott,  that  in  his  Florida  campaign 
he  had  not  killed  even  an  Indian  woman  or  a  child.  The  rec 
ord  says : 

"  Mr.  Haralson  went  into  a  general  defense  of  the  bravery 
and  efficiency  of  the  officers  of  the  army. 

"  Mr.  Duncan  interposed,  and  wished  to  inquire  of  the  gen 
tleman  from  Georgia  if  General  Scott  did  not  go  into  Florida 
with  an  army  of  fourteen  thousand  men,  and  not  kill  a  single 
squaw  or  papoose. 

"Mr.  Haralson  said  he  knew  not  so  particularly  about  this 
case ;  but  no  party  ties  or  prejudices  could  prevent  him  from 
saying  that  that  officer  had  always  been  found  discharging  his 
duties  with  gallantry  and  honor  to  himself  and  his  country 
whenever  its  peace  and  its  interests  were  jeoparded,-  as  his  ac 
tion  at  the  Northern  Lakes  and  many  other  portions  of  the  coun 
try  certified. 

"  Mr.  Duncan  propounded  several  other  inquiries,  which  were 
replied  to  by 

"Mr.  Haralson,  who  then  proceeded  to  examine  and  justify 
the  policy  of  the  government  in  sustaining,  during  a  time  of 
peace,  a  skeleton  army,  whose  merits  he  defended  with  some 
warmth." 

On  another  and  earlier  occasion,  when  a  proposition  was 
pending  to  abolish  the  office  of  major-general  of  the  army,  he 
said: 

"I  have  none  of  those  feelings  in  regard  to  Generals  Scott 
and  Gaines  which  some  members  appear  to  have.  Those  gen 
tlemen  have  shown  themselves  gallant  on  every  occasion  when 


HUGH  ANDERSON  HARALSON.       263 

the  country  required  their  services,  and  I  will  not  detract  from 
their  well-merited  reputation." 

On  the  resolution  of  thanks  to  General  Taylor  and  the  army 
for  their  conduct  in  the  battles  of  the  8th  and  9th  of  May,  Mr. 
Haralson,  who  advocated  it,  said,  "  Although  there  were  thou 
sands  on  thousands  of  volunteers  who  were  ready  and  anxious 
to  participate  in  any  struggle  in  which  their  country  might  be 
engaged,  it  was  a  subject  of  congratulation  to  the  friends  of 
the  army  that  victories  such  as  those  won  upon  the  Rio  Grande 
had  been  achieved  by  our  own  little  army  alone." 

These  are  mere  isolated  instances,  characteristic  of  a  uniform 
course  of  proceeding. 

He  was  in  favor  of  Mr.  Tyler's  treaty  for  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  or  for  almost  any  project  which  was  introduced  into  the 
House,  having  in  view  the  accomplishment  of  that  object.  He 
believed  the  measure  to  have  been  not  only  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  strictly  construed,  but  called 
for  by  the  general  voice  of  the  American  people. 

He  entertained  the  opinion  that  the  title  of  the  United  States 
to  the  whole  of  the  Oregon  Territory  was  "  clear ;"  and  when, 
in  the  second  session  of  the  twenty-eighth  Congress,  matters 
seemed  drawing  to  a  crisis,  he  was  disposed  to  sustain  the 
claim  in  the  widest  extent  in  which  it  had  been  made,  and  was 
ready  to  extend  our  jurisdiction  and  laws  over  every  acre  of 
the  soil.  In  fact,  he  would  rather  have  stretched  the  claim  still 
further,  than  narrowed  it  down  in  the  least.  At  the  next 
session  he  voted  for  the  notice,  believing  it  to  be  a  peaceful 
measure,  and  demanded  by  every  consideration  of  policy,  inter 
est,  and  honor.  He  accompanied  this  vote  with  the  expression 
of  his  desire  to  see  the  matter  settled  by  negotiation,  if  it  could 
be  so  settled,  with  a  reservation  that,  if  that  could  not  be  done, 
and  a  resort  must  at  last  be  had  to  the  ultima  ratio,  the  stake 
should  be  the  whole  of  Oregon  or  none.  But  he  hoped  that  the 
interests  of  both  nations,  and  the  claims  of  civilization  and  Chris 
tianity,  would  prevent  an  open  rupture  and  a  resort  to  arms. 

We  have  elsewhere  noted  [see  title,  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP] 
the  circumstances  under  which  the  War  Bill  was  reported,  and 
the  fact  of  its  adaptation  to  the  Mexican  Republic.  Mr.  Har 
alson  has  sustained  the  war,  not  only  by  voting  supplies  of  men 
and  money,  but,  to  use  his  own  language,  "  by  his  voice  and  in 


264  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

his  heart !"  He  has  insisted  on  the  utter  impossibility  of  es 
caping  a  conflict,  sooner  or  later,  while  any  respect  for  our  own 
interests  and  national  character  was  preserved;  and  he  has 
branded  as  impudent  and  unfounded  the  allegations  so  often 
and  so  boldly  made,  that  the  President  had  instigated  the  war 
through  motives  of  rapacity  and  for  purposes  of  conquest.  While 
he  has  made  no  complaint  of  the  generals  employed  in  the  pros 
ecution  of  the  war,  but  has  ever  been  ready  to  give  them  all 
credit  for  their  gallantry  and  conduct,  he  has  contended  that 
the  administration  itself  has  conducted  it  with  an  energy  which 
ought  to  inspire  the  whole  American  people  with  confidence, 
and,  at  the  same  time,, lead  them  to  award  the  credit  which 
was  due  to  that  administration  for  the  laudable  desire  it  has 
evinced  to  secure  an  early  and  honorable  peace.  In  no  spirit 
of  party  feeling,  but  with  perfect  honesty,  he  said  he  meant  to 
do  justice  both  to  the  administration  and  to  General  Taylor,  and 
he  would  sustain  and  defend  both  in  every  thing  in  which  they 
ought  to  be  sustained  and  defended. 

Among  other  measures  introduced  by  Mr.  Haralson,  we  note 
the  bill  of  the  last  session,  commonly  called  the  Ten  Regiment 
Bill.  Complaints  have  been  made  in  many  quarters  as  to  the 
delay  which  took  place  in  the  action  of  the  House  upon  it.  The 
delay,  if  any  there  was  beyond  that  which  the  forms  of  repre 
sentative  proceeding  and  the  rights  of  free  discussion  imposed, 
did  not  rest  with  the  Military  Committee,  as  may  be  infer 
red  from  the  fact  that  the  President's  Message  recommending 
this  additional  force  was  referred  on  the  28th  of  December, 
and  the  bill,  which  had  been. prepared  in  advance,  was  reported 
on  the  following  day.  We  know  that  the  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  made  many  efforts,  to  which  the  House  would  not  con 
sent,  to  take  it  up. 

We  may  advert  here  to  a  collateral  circumstance  connected 
with  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  which  at  one  time  was  made 
a  matter  of  some  comment,  in  which  reflections,  not  justified 
by  the  state  of  facts,  were  cast  upon  the  Committee  on  Mili 
tary  Affairs.  It  will  be  recollected  that,  after  the  defeat  of  the 
Mexicans  at  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  General  Taylor  was  prevent 
ed  from  taking  advantage  of  his  victory  by  the  want  of  a  pon 
toon  train,  which  would  have  enabled  him  to  pursue  the  enemy 
across  the  Rio  Grande,  and  greatly  improve  the  result  of  his 


HUGH  ANDERSON  HARALSON.       265 

victory.  Referring  to  the  absence  of  this  much-needed  military 
equipment,  the  official  paper  of  June  the  llth,  1846,  remarks  : 

"  We  have  ascertained  that  it  was  a  source  of  no  less  regret 
to  the  War  Department  than  to  General  Taylor  that  it  pos 
sessed  neither  the  power  nor  the  means  of  providing  him  with 
such  a  train.  Its  great  usefulness  and  importance  in  military 
operations  has,  we  understand,  been  long  known  to  the  depart 
ment,  and  various  efforts  have  been  made  to  induce  Congress 
to  make  provision  for  it.  The  Secretary  of  War,  in  his  last 
annual  report,  strongly  recommended  the  measure,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  following  extract : 

"  '  The  propriety  of  organizing  a  corps,  moderate  in  point  of 
numbers,  of  miners,  sappers,  and  pontoniers,  has  heretofore 
been  often  presented  to  the  consideration  of  Congress.  The 
reasons  for  such  a  corps  are  becoming  more  and  more  evident 
and  earnest,  in  consequence  of  the  military  occupation  of  Texas. 
The  commanding  general  there  has  requested  to  be  furnished 
with  a  pontoon  train,  deeming  it  very  essential  to  the  move 
ment  of  the  army  in  that  country.  In  many  parts  of  it,  the 
materials  for  constructing  bridges  are  not  to  be  obtained. 
When  that  is  the  case,  the  movements  of  an  army  would  be 
impeded  or  arrested  by  the  considerable  streams  traversing  its 
line  of  operations,  unless  it  was  supplied  with  the  necessary 
equipage  for  crossing  them,  and  attended  by  a  corps  instructed 
in  the  use  of  this  equipage.  The  name  by  which  this  corps  is 
usually  designated — that  of  sappers  and  miners — is  apt  to  mis 
lead  the  judgment  as  to  the  nature  of  its  duties,  and,  conse 
quently,  as  to  its  usefulness  and  adaptation  to  our  service. 
The  services  required  of  it  in  attacks  upon  fortified  places  con 
stitute  but  a  small  portion  of  its  appropriate  duties.  This  sub 
ject  is  fully  and  ably  discussed  in  the  report  of  the  chief  engi 
neer,  herewith  submitted.  The  recommendation  in  its  favor  is 
sustained  by  strong  arguments  and  the  highest  military  author 
ity,  and  I  trust  will  procure  for  it  the  favorable  action  of  Con 
gress.  This  corps  need  not  be  numerous — one  hundred  enlist 
ed  men  being  deemed  sufficient ;  and,  if  placed  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  present  engineer  officers,  it  would  not  be  expens 
ive.' 

"  This  recommendation  was  followed  up  by  earnest  and  re 
peated  efforts  by  the  department  to  induce  its  sanction  by  Con- 


266  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

gress ;  and  the  Secretary  of  War  no  less  than  three  times,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  session,  addressed  the  appropriate  com 
mittee  on  the  subject,  urging  the  importance  of  this  measure, 
and  reminding  them  that  the  general  commanding  the  army  in 
Texas  had  called  for  this  essential  equipment  to  his  military 
operations." 

Mr.  Haralson  made  this  article  the  subject  of  an  explanation 
in  the  House,  which  is  thus  given  on  the  record : 

"  It  is  not  known  certainly  that  by  the  term  *  appropriate 
committee,'  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of  this  House 
was  meant,  or  that  any  censure  was  intended  against  that 
committee  ;  but  the  implication  is  so  strong,  since  the  subject 
had  been  before  that  committee,  as  to  leave  them  no  alterna 
tive  but  to  make  a  public  correction  of  it.  While  they  do  not 
object  that  a  just  compliment  should  be  paid  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  and  would  willingly  concede,  themselves,  to  that  offi 
cer,  that  he  has  discharged  his  duties  faithfully  and  promptly 
on  this  subject,  they  are  unwilling  that  it  should  be  done  at 
their  expense  ;  and  it  is  due  to  them  that  the  whole  facts  in  re 
lation  to  their  action  should  be  known ;  and  they  have  directed 
me  to  state  that  which  I  shall  now  detail  to  the  House :  that 
within  less  than  two  weeks  after  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  was  printed  and  laid  on  our  tables,  the  bill  on  this  subject 
was  promptly  reported  to  the  House.  On  the  19th  of  Decem 
ber,  the  subject  was  referred  to  the  gentleman  from  South  Car 
olina  [Mr.  Burt],  which  was  before  the  printed  message  of  the 
President  and  the  accompanying  documents  had  reached  this 
House.  On  the  8th  of  January,  the  bill,  having  been  reported 
to  this  House  from  the  Senate,  and  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Military  Affairs,  was  promptly  acted  on  by  that  committee, 
and,  by  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  reported  to  the 
House  for  its  action ;  and  repeated  efforts  were  made  by  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Brinckerhoff]  and  the  gentleman 
from  South  Carolina  [Mr.  Burt],  as  well  as  myself  (as  will  be 
recollected  by  the  House),  to  have  action  upon  that  measure. 
Its  importance  was  felt  no  more  by  the  Secretary  of  War  than 
by  the  committee  themselves ;  and  perhaps  it  is  due  to  the 
committee  to  state,  that  it  is  not  within  their  recollection  that 
they  'were  addressed  no  less  than  three  times,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  session,  on  the  subject,  urging  the  importance  of 


HUGH  ANDERSON  HARALSON.       267 

this  measure,  and  reminding  them  that  the  general  command 
ing  the  army  in  Texas  had  called  for  this  essential  equipment 
to  his  operations,'  as  specified  in  the  article.  They  have  in 
that  matter — as,  I  trust,  it  will  be  awarded  to  them  that  they 
have  in  every  other — promptly  discharged  their  duties  to  the 
country,  sometimes  anticipating  the  probable  reference  of  sub 
jects,  and  acting  upon  them  before  they  were  moved  in  the 
House — meeting,  sometimes,  every  morning  for  a  week  to 
gether. 

"It  was  not  the  object  of  the  committee  to  reflect  upon  the 
Secretary  of  War  or  Colonel  Totten  ;  on  the  contrary,  they 
took  pleasure  in  bearing  witness  that  they  had  faithfully  dis 
charged  their  duty  on  the  subject ;  but,  while  this  ,had  been 
done,  under  this  extract  it  was  implied,  at  least,  that  there  was 
a  lack  of  promptness  on  the  part  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  and  it  was  due  to  them  to  correct  any  such  impression, 
and  that  it  should  be  known  that  they  had  discharged  their  du 
ties  faithfully  to  the  country.  A  like  bill  had  also  been  reported 
from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  of  the  last  Congress." 

Among  other  propositions  introduced  individually  by  Mr. 
Haralson,  we  note  a  joint  resolution,  similar  in  purport  to  that 
which  subsequently  came  from  the  Senate,  and  was  passed  by 
the  House,  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  War  to  cause  to  be 
refunded  to  the  several  states  the  amount  of  expenses  incurred 
by  them  in  subsisting,  furnishing,  and  transporting  volunteers 
previous  to  their  being  mustered  and  received  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States. 


GIDDINGS,   JOSHUA  REED. 

JL  HIS  is  a  name  familiar  to  the  public  ear.  It  has  been  asso 
ciated  with  much  of  reputed  evil,  resulting  from  the  doctrines  he 
espouses  in  the  matter  of  slavery,  and  from  the  steadfastness 
with  which  he  has  promulgated  and  defended  them.  Look  to 
the  left  of  the  speaker's  chair,  in  the  hollow,  almost  at  its  base  ; 
see  a  tall  man,  of  stout  proportions,  with  a  stoop  in  the  shoul 
ders,  the  face  marked,  and  the  hair  gray :  that  is  Joshua  R. 
Giddings.  His  ancestors  emigrated  from  England  about 
March,  1650,  and  settled  at  Houston,  in  the  colony  of  Massa 
chusetts.  His  great-grandfather  removed  to  the  State  of  Con 
necticut  about  the  year  1725.  His  father  left  that  state  with  his 
family  in  1795,  intending  to  settle  in  the  Valley  of  the  Wyo 
ming,  Pennsylvania.  Arriving  in  that  region  of  country,  but  not 
pleased  with  it,  he  left  his  family  at  a  place  then  called  Tioga 
Point,  now  Athens,  and  sought  a  more  congenial  spot  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  The  son  was  born  at  Athens  on  the  6th 
of  October,  1795,  and  his  family  removed  about  the  1st  of  Oc 
tober  of  the  same  year  to  Canandaigua,  New  York.  Here,  un 
til  the  spring  of  1806,  being  then  in  his  eleventh  year,  he  re 
ceived  a  common  school  education.  At  that  time  his  father 
removed  to  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  where  the  son  has  ever 
since  resided. 

The  country  was  then  almost  an  unbroken  wilderness,  with 
out  schools,  and  destitute  of  the  means  by  which  the  few  youths 
resident  upon  the  frontier  could  be  educated.  Hard  labor  was 
his  constant  lot.  His  father  had  purchased  a  large  tract  of 
land,  the  title  to  which  proved  defective,  thus  leaving  him  and 
the  family  poor,  and  dependent  on  their  own  energies.  From 
1806  to  1818,  the  son  was  accustomed  to  almost  every  hardship 
incident  to  a  new  and  rugged  country.  In  1812,  after  the  sur 
render  of  the  northwestern  army  under  General  Hull,  our  fron 
tier  was  left  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  the  Indians  and  the 
268 


.-•^v  .K:'*  :  • 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  269 

invasion  of  the  British.  Orders  were  immediately  issued,  call 
ing  for  the  entire  militia  to  defend  the  advanced  settlements. 
The  father  of  Mr.  Giddings  had  been  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
and  permitted  him  to  join  the  troops,  although  not  subject  to  mil 
itary  duty,  being  less  than  seventeen  years  of  age.  After  they 
had  marched  two  days,  it  was  thought  proper  to  discharge  one 
half  of  the  militia ;  but  Mr.  Giddings  remained  with  those  who 
went  forward,  and  continued  with  them  until  they  were  reliev 
ed  by  the  regular  army,  in  November  following.  During  this 
short  campaign  the  first  battle  was  fought  by  the  militia  on 
that  frontier.  It  took  place  on  the  29th  of  September,  on  the 
peninsula  north  of  Sandusky  Bay,  between  a  body  of  some 
hundred  and  thirty  Indians  and  sixty-five  volunteers  from  our 
camp,  twelve  of  whom  were  killed  or  wounded.  In  that  bat 
tle  Mr.  Giddings  participated.  An  account  of  it,  written  by 
himself  some  years  ago,  may  be  found  in  the  "  Western  Re 
pository." 

In  1817  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  engage  in  teaching  a  dis 
trict  school.  He  was  not  qualified  for  the  business,  but  turned 
his  attention  wholly  to  it,  and  was  able  to  effect  a  satisfactory 
completion  of  his  engagement.  He  became  a  close  student 
under  a  neighboring  clergyman,  and  made  rapid  progress  in 
grammar,  arithmetic,  and  mathematics,  and  also  acquired  a 
pretty  good  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language.  Having  aban 
doned  finally  all  further  thoughts  of  farming,  he  commenced 
the  study  of  the  law  with  his  friend  and  predecessor  in  Con 
gress,  Elisha  Whittlesey.  In  February,  1821,  Mr.  Giddings 
was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  settled  at  the  county  seat  where 
he  now  lives,  and  commenced  practice.  He  acquired  business 
rapidly,  and  was  soon  among  the  leading  members  of  the  bar. 
In  the  same  year  he  married  Laura  Waters,  daughter  of  Abner 
Waters,  of  Trumbull  county,  farmer.  He  has,  living,  three  sons 
and  two  daughters.  In  1826  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legis 
lature,  and  in  1827  declined  a  re-election.  He  applied  himself 
to  his  profession  until  1838,  when  he  was  elected  to  the  twenty- 
fifth  Congress,  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Elisha  Whittlesey, 
who  had  resigned.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  regularly  re- 
elected  to  every  successive  Congress.  His  politics  are  Whig. 

On  taking  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  House,  he  found  in 
full  operation  that  peculiar  policy- by  which,  under  the  resolu- 


270  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

tions  of  Mr.  Pinkney,  of  South  Carolina,  as  embodied  in  the 
rule  commonly  called  the  twenty-first,  all  petitions  relating  to 
the  subject  of  slavery  were  denied  either  a  hearing,  reference, 
or  consideration  of  any  kind,  beyond  the  privilege  of  being  laid 
upon  the  table.  Like  Mr.  Adams,  who  had  never  failed  to  de 
nounce  this  policy  as  an  outrage  upon  northern  freemen  and 
northern  rights,  Mr.  Giddings  constantly  assailed  it,  and  at  ev 
ery  opportunity  endeavored  to  hold  it  up  to  the  reprobation  of 
the  free  states.  He  became  a  favorite  medium  through  which 
petitions  were  presented  from  all  quarters  of  the  Union  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  and  especially  for  its  abolition  in  the  District 
of  Columbia ;  and  he  was  soon  marked  down  as  an  Abolitionist 
in  the  most  reproachful  sense  of  the  term. 

To  what  extent  he  is  entitled  to  this  designation,  the  reader 
may  decide  for  himself  presently.  We  have  at  all  times  un 
derstood  him  to  assert  the  power  of  the  Federal  government 
over  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  held  that,  by  the 
transfer  of  the  district  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Federal  gov 
ernment,  the  laws  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  ceased  to  have 
force  and  effect  when  Congress  took  possession  of  the  territory ; 
that  by  the  act  of  February  the  27th,  1801,  the  laws  of  those 
states  were  revived  and  continued  in  force,  thereby  becoming, 
by  adoption,  the  laws  of  Congress.  And  he  contends,  that  by 
repealing  those  laws  now,  slavery  would,  ipso  facto,  cease  to 
exist.  Closely  observant  of  his  course  as  our  duties  have  com 
pelled  us  to  be,  we  have  never  heard  him  utter  the  first  sylla 
ble  in  assertion  of  the  power  of  the  government  to  interfere 
with  that  institution  in  the  states.  On  the  contrary,  we  find 
his  name  recorded  in  the  affirmative  on  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolution,  offered  by  Mr.  Atherton,  of  New  Hamp 
shire,  in  December,  1838 : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  government  is  a  government  of  limit 
ed  powers,  and  that,  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
Congress  has  no  jurisdiction  whatever  over  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  the  several  states  of  the  confederacy." 

And,  on  another  occasion,  he  said,  "  I  protest  I  will  stand  by 
the  constitutional  interests  of  the  South  as  long  as  any  man 
on  this  floor." 

In  respect  to  the  slave-trade  between  the  states,  we  have  un 
derstood  him  to  regard  it  as -a  matter  over  which  Congress  had 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  271 

no  constitutional  control,  and  with  which  it  could  not  in  any 
manner  interfere. 

But  we  have  his  own  avowal  to  the  fact  that  he  is  an  Aboli 
tionist,  and  we  find  also  on  record  his  own  definition  of  the 
term,  as  he  considers  it  applicable  to  himself. 

In  a  speech  delivered  by  Mr.  Payne,  of  Alabama,  on  the 
rules  of  the  House,  in  January,  1844,  that  gentleman  was  ad 
dressing  himself  to  the  Abolitionists.  The  record  says  : 

"  Here  Mr.  Payne  was  interrupted  by  Mr.  Giddings. 

"  Mr.  Payne.  *  Is  the  gentleman  himself  an  Abolitionist  ?' 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  am  an  Abolitionist.' " 

And  in  another  place,  he  thus  explains  himself: 

"I  am  an  Abolitionist  to  the  full  extent  in  which  I  under 
stand  that  term.  I  have  conversed  with  hundreds,  perhaps  I 
may  say  thousands,  but  I  have  never  heard  one  intimate  any 
intention  or  wish  to  interfere  politically  with  the  institution  of 
slavery  in  Kentucky,  or  any  other  state.  They  claim  no  such 
right,  nor  do  they  ask  any  such  privilege.  Gentlemen  may 
consider  me  as  speaking  ex  cathedra,  if  they  choose.  I  say  that 
all  imputations  and  charges  of  their  desire  to  do  so  are,  so  far 
as  I  am  informed,  unfounded.  On  the  contrary,  they  ask  to 
be  relieved  from  such  interference  and  taxation  for  the  support 
of  slavery.  We  ask  that  the  government  should  not  interfere 
with  it.  Let  us  cease  to  appropriate  the  money  of  the  free 
states  for  the  support  of  slavery.  Let  Congress  cease  to  in 
volve  the  free  states  in  the  disgrace  or  support  of  that  institu 
tion,  and  we  shall  be  satisfied  as  to  political  action." 

And  again  he  says : 

"  The  term  abolition  is  one  by  which,  probably,  no  two  men 
understand  the  same  thing.  One  attaches  to  it  one  sense,  an 
other  attaches  to  it  another.  Going  back  to  the  origin  of  the 
whole  matter — to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution — to  ascer 
tain  and  develop  the  true  point  in  controversy,  I  have  compared 
my  ideas  on  the  subject  with  those  of  the  slave-holders  of  the 
South — men  of  honor  and  of  candor — with  whom  I  have  con 
versed,  and  I  am  yet  unable  to  lay  my  hand  on  the  constitu 
tional  principle  which  they  deny  and  I  maintain,  or  which  they 
maintain  and  I  deny." 

It  is  well  known — and  by  none  better  than  by  Mr.  Giddings 
himself — that  a  feeling  of  prejudice  against  him  and  his  doc- 


272  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

trines  has  pervaded  the  House  of  Representatives  for  a  number 
of  years  past.  In  all  that  he  has  done,  we  have  understood 
him  as  contending  for  two  great  principles :  first,  for  the  free 
dom  of  debate,  as  applicable  to  all  matters  touching  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  government  possessed 
no  constitutional  power  to  tax  the  free  states  for,  or  involve 
them  in,  the  support  of  slavery — as,  for  example,  with  refer 
ence  to  the  Florida  war  and  the  case  of  the  Creole.  That  war, 
he  has  always  contended,  had  its  origin  in  conflicting  claims  to 
negro  property  between  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles. 

In  the  enforcement  of  these  principles,  no  regard  has  been 
paid  to  time  or  circumstances,  or  to  that  more  subtle  and  in 
definable  thing  known  as  the  temper  of  the  House.  We  ha^e 
seen  him  lash  its  inflammable  elements  into  fury,  he  alone  re 
maining  calm  amid  the  storm.  No  thoughts  of  expediency,  no 
considerations  of  the  fitness  of  things,  seem  to  have  found  place 
in  his  mind.  And  if  he  has  faithfully  represented  the  senti 
ments  of  his  constituents,  even  his  enemies  must  award  him 
the  praise  of  having  done  that  which  others,  of  whom  better 
things  were  expected,  have,  in  respect  to  the  same  topic  in  an 
other  aspect,  signally  failed  to  do. 

But  it  is  fair  that  he  should  speak  for  himself.  In  1842-3 
he  published,  under  the  signature  of  "  Pacificus,"  certain  essays 
upon  the  constitutional  powers  of  the  Federal  government  over 
the  institution  of  slavery.  They  are  worthy  the  attention  of 
the  jurist  and  the  statesman.  In  February,  1841,  speaking  in 
the  House  on  the  subject  of  the  Florida  war,  he  said : 

"  I  hold  that  if  the  slaves  of  Georgia  or  any  other  state  leave 
their  masters,  the  Federal  government  has  no  constitutional  au 
thority  to  employ  our  army  or  navy  for  their  recapture,  or  to 
apply  the  national  treasure  to  repurchase  them.  We  possess 
no  constitutional  power  to  do  either.  If,  however,  gentlemen 
of  the  South,  who  hold  to  a  strict  and  rigid  construction  of  that 
instrument,  will  point  me  to  the  clause  of  our  constitution  con 
taining  such  authority,  I  will  confess  my  obligations  to  them. 
Such  power  would  necessarily  include  the  power  to  tax  the  free 
states  to  an  indefinite  extent  for  the  support  of  slavery,  and  for 
arresting  every  fugitive  slave  who  has  fled  from  his  master, 
within  the  several  states  of  this  Union.  Such  power  I  deny 
most  distinctly  and  emphatically.  But,  sir,  we  have  as  much 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  273 

right  to  do  this  directly  as  we  have  to  do  it  indirectly.  "We 
have  as  much  power  to  employ  our  army  and  navy  in  recaptur 
ing  fugitive  slaves,  as  we  have  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  Indians 
to  retake  such  fugitives,  and  then  employ  our  army  and  navy 
to  compel  the  Indians  to  do  it.  We  have  as  much  power  to 
tax  the  free  states,  and  apply  the  money  directly  for  the  pur 
chase  of  fugitive  slaves,  as  we  have  to  tax  them  to  carry  on  a 
war  for  the  purpose  of  compelling  the  surrender  of  such  slaves ; 
or  even  to  apply  the  national  treasure  to  the  holding  of  such 
treaties.  In  truth,  sir,  we  have  no  power  whatever  over  the 
subject  or  institution  of  slavery  within  the  several  states  of  this 
Union.  We  have  neither  the  power  to  sustain  nor  abolish  it, 
to  create  or  destroy  it.  I  mean,  sir,  that  we  have  no  such  pow 
ers  delegated  to  us  for  any  purpose  whatever.  We  have  not 
the  power  to  sustain  it  in  the  South,  or  establish  it  in  the  North. 
I  know  it  is  said,  and  repeated,  and  asserted,  that  a  portion  of 
the  people  of  the  free  states  hold  that  we  have  the  power  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  States.  I  can  only  say  that  I  have  never 
met  with  any  intelligent  man  who  has  advanced  such  doctrine 
in  my  hearing.  For  my  own  part,  I  believe  we  have  as  much 
power  to  establish  slavery  in  the  free  states  as  we  have  to  abol 
ish  it  in  the  slave  states.  I  say  nothing  of  the  constitutional 
power  of  Congress  over  the  slave-trade  between  the  states. 
But,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  not  willing  to  believe  that  any  gen 
tleman  on  this  floor  will  urge  the  right  of  taxing  the  freemen 
of  the  North  for  the  holding  in  slavery  the  colored  men  at  the 
South." 

This  is  the  basis  of  the  doctrines  put  forth  and  illustrated  by 
"  Pacificus."  They  are,  however,  more  clearly  summed  up  in 
a  pamphlet  published  in  1845,  at  the  request  of  Eastern  friends, 
and  which  has  been  very  widely  circulated.  The  introduction 
to  it  is  as  follows : 

"  The  Rights  of  the  Free  States  subverted,  or  an  Enumeration 
of  some  of  the  most  prominent  Instances  in  which  the  Fed 
eral  Constitution  has  been  violated  by  our  National  Gov 
ernment,  for  the  Benefit  of  Slavery.  By  a  Member  of  Con 
gress. 
"INTRODUCTION. — Perhaps  no  subject  was  ever  more  generally 

misunderstood  than  the  contest  now  going  on  between  a  por- 
VOL.  I.— S 


274  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

tion  of  the  people  of  the  free  states  and  those  who  are  attached 
to  the  slaveholding  interests  of  the  South.  Until  quite  recently, 
the  Southern  doctrine,  from  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
has  been,  that  '  slavery  is  strictly  a  state  institution,  over 
which  the  Federal  government  has  no  control?  This  is  believ 
ed  by  the  people  of  the  North,  generally,  to  be  the  constitution 
al  doctrine  ;  those  who  dissent  from  it  are  so  few  that  they  can 
hardly  be  said  to  form  an  exception.  That  eminent  statesman, 
Henry  Clay,  in  1844,  declared,  that  'the  existence,  mainte 
nance,  and  continuance  of  slavery  must  depend  entirely  upon 
the  power  and  authority  of  the  states  in  which  it  exists? 

"From  this  position  few  Northern  men  will  dissent.  All 
agree  that  Congress  has  no  power  to  uphold  it;  and  if  the 
states  in  which  it  exists  are  unable  to  sustain  it,  it  should  be 
left  to  perish.  Congress  possesses  no  power  to  compel  the  peo 
ple  of  the  free  states  to  uphold  the  slavery  of  the  South,  nei 
ther  has  it  any  power  to  compel  the  slave  states  to  abolish  it. 
It  can  not  interfere  for  either  purpose.  Still,  Southern  politi 
cians  and  Southern  statesmen  have  so  often  reiterated  the  fact 
that  Northern  men  were  endeavoring  to  interfere  with  their 
'peculiar  institution,"*  that  many  Northern  statesmen  yet  seem 
to  be  unconscious  that  those  who  have  said  and  done  most  in 
regard  to  the  encroachments  of  slavery  have  merely  endeavor 
ed  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  free  states,  and  to  preserve  the 
Constitution  from  being  subverted.  They  have  put  forth  their 
efforts  to  save  the  people  of  the  North  from  being  unconstitu 
tionally  involved  in  the  expense  and  crime  of  supporting  slavery. 

"  The  most  objectionable  feature  of  our  Constitution  is  that 
provision  which  gives  to  the  slave  states  a  representation  in 
Congress  proportioned  to  the  number  of  slaves  which  they  hold. 
This  was  a  privilege  conceded  to  those  states.  By  it  they  now 
have  nineteen  members  of  Congress  more  than  they  would  be 
entitled  to  were  freemen  alone  included  in  the  ratio  of  repre 
sentation.  Yet  these  members,  like  the  others,  are  bound  by 
the  Constitution,  and  possess  no  right  to  pervert  the  govern 
ment  to  the  support  of  slavery.  Again :  it  is  supposed  by  some, 
that  that  provision  of  the  Constitution  which  relates  to  the  ar 
rest  of  fugitive  slaves  directly  involves  the  people  of  the  free 
states  in  the  support  of  slavery.  But,  under  the  construction 
which  that  clause  has  received,  it  appears  that  the  whole  pow- 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  275 

er  of  Congress  consists  in  prohibiting  the  people  of  the  free  states 
from  interfering  to  prevent  the  master,  or  his  agents,  from  ar 
resting  his  fugitive  slave.  We  may  feed,  and  clothe,  and  lodge 
the  slave,  knowing  him  to  be  a  fugitive.  It  seems  that  we  may 
go  further :  we  may  inform  him  of  his  rights,  tell  him  how  to 
escape,  and  furnish  him  with  arms  to  defend  himself,  without 
making  ourselves  liable  under  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  the 
United  States.  We  may  also  refuse  to  feed,  or  to  lodge  the 
slaveholder  while  in  pursuit  of  his  slave ;  we  may  spurn  him 
from  our  presence  ;  and  we  may  stand  and  see  his  slave  defend 
himself,  even  to  taking  the  master's  life,  and  incur  neither  moral 
nor  legal  responsibility.  Yet  we  may  not  secrete  the  slave 
from,  nor  defend  him  against,  his  master.  So  far  as  this  su- 
pineness  involves  us  in  a  negative  support  of  slavery,  so  far  are 
we  liable  to  maintain  that  institution.  Again :  it  is  urged  by 
some  that,  so  far  as  the  Constitution  makes  it  the  duty  of  the 
Federal  government  to  suppress  internal  violence,  it  subjects 
the  people  of  the  free  states  to  the  support  of  slavery.  The 
duty  of  the  Federal  government  goes  only  so  far  as  to  suppress 
the  violence.  It  takes  no  notice  of  slavery.  But  if  slaves  com 
mit  violence  in  order  to  obtain  their  liberty,  such  violence  must 
be  suppressed.  Yet,  when  the  violence  ceases,  the  power  of 
the  government  ceases.  Our  troops  can  not  go  further  and  de 
liver  the  insurgents  to  their  masters,  nor  can  they  inquire 
whether  they  be  masters  or  slaves.  The  business  and  duty  of 
our  troops  is  with  the  violence,  and  not  with  slavery.  But  so 
far  as  the  suppression  of  domestic  violence  tends  to  the  support 
of  slavery,  so  far  the  people  of  the  free  states  may  constitution 
ally  be  compelled  to  support  that  institution.  I  make  this  ex 
planation  in  order  that  I  may  be  definitely  understood.  Taking 
this  as  the  true  construction  of  the  Constitution,  we  must  re 
gard  every  exercise  of  the  national  influence  for  the  purpose  of 
sustaining  slavery,  every  payment  of  money  from  the  national 
treasury,  every  employment  of  the  navy  or  of  the  army  for  such 
purpose,  as  violations  of  that  instrument." 

His  doctrine,  in  short,  is,  that  slavery  should  be  let  entirely 
alone — an  issue  which  is  now  before  the  country  as  connected 
with  the  results  of  the  Mexican  war. 

Acting  on  these  views,  he  offered  a  series  of  resolutions  on 
the  21st  of  March,  1842,  having  relation  to  the  case  of  the  brig 


276  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  Creole,"  which  led  to  a  censure  by  that  body,  to  his  resigna 
tion,  and  to  his  re-election  by  an  overwhelming  expression  of 
public  sentiment  in  his  district. 

The  brig  "Creole,"  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  Captain  Ensor, 
bound  to  New  Orleans,  sailed  from  Hampton  Roads  on  the 
27th  of  October,  1841,  with  a  cargo  of  merchandise,  principally 
tobacco,  and  slaves,  numbering  about  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
five.  On  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  November,  some  of  the 
slaves  rose  upon  the  crew  of  the  vessel,  murdered  a  passenger, 
named  Howell,  who  owned  some  of  the  negroes,  wounded  the 
captain  dangerously,  and  the  first  mate  and  two  of  the  crew 
severely.  The  slaves  soon  obtained  complete  possession  of  the 
brig,  which,  under  their  direction,  was  taken  into  Nassau,  a 
British  port  in  the  island  of  New  Providence.  At  the  request 
of  the  American  consul  in  that  place,  the  governor  ordered  a 
guard  on  board,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  mutineers,  and 
with  a  view  to  an  investigation  into  the  circumstances  of  the 
case.  That  investigation  was  made  by  two  British  magis 
trates,  and  an  examination  also  took  place  by  the  consul.  On 
the  report  of  the  magistrates,  nineteen  of  the  slaves  were  im 
prisoned  by  the  local  authorities  as  having  been  concerned  in 
the  mutiny  and  murder ;  and  their  surrender  to  the  consul,  to 
be  sent  to  the  United  States  for  trial  for  these  crimes,  was 
refused,  on  the  ground  that  the  governor  wished  first  to  com 
municate  with  the  government  of  England  on  the  subject. 
Through  the  interference  of  the  colonial  authorities,  and  even 
before  the  military  guard  was  removed,  the  greater  number  of 
the  remaining  slaves  were  liberated,  and  encouraged  to  go  be 
yond  the  power  of  the  master  of  the  vessel  or  the  American 
consul,  by  proceedings  which  neither  of  them  could  control. 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  case,  as  stated  in  two  protests, 
one  made  at  Nassau  and  the  other  at  New  Orleans,  and  the 
consul's  letters,  together  with  sundry  depositions  taken  by  him. 
It  is  proper  to  state  that  the  facts  were  subsequently  contro 
verted,  positive  and  officious  interference  by  the  colonial  au 
thorities  to  set  the  slaves  free  being  alleged  on  one  side,  and 
denied  on  the  other.  The  nineteen  who  were  imprisoned  in 
the  first  instance  were  subsequently  liberated  by  order  of  the 
home  government. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  demanded  redress,  and 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  277 

claimed  indemnification  from  the  government  of  Great  Britain. 
We  have  no  knowledge  that  either  the  one  or  the  other  has 
ever  been  obtained. 

Now,  it  was  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Giddings  that  no  crime  or 
offense  had  been  committed  on  board  the  Creole — no  crime  or 
offense  known  or  recognized  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
or  of  any  state  composing  them.  Slavery,  he  argued,  was  a 
local  institution,  unknown  beyond  the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction 
by  which  it  was  created — confined  distinctly  and  definitely  to 
the  state  in  which  it  existed ;  and  the  moment  a  slave  was 
taken  by  his  master  beyond  the  boundaries  of  that  state,  he 
was  a  slave  no  longer.  Proceeding  on  these  convictions,  he 
offered  the  following  resolutions  : 

"  Resolved,  That  prior  to  the  adoption  of  our  Federal  Con 
stitution,  each  of  the  several  states  composing  this  Union  exer 
cised  full  and  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  subject  of  slavery 
within  its  own  territory,  and  possessed  full  power  to  continue 
or  abolish  it  at  pleasure. 

"  Resolved^  That  by  adopting  the  Constitution,  no  part  of 
the  aforesaid  powers  were  delegated  to  the  Federal  govern 
ment,  but  were  reserved  by,  and  still  pertain  to,  each  of  the 
several  states. 

"Resolved^  That  by  the  eighth  section  of  the  first  article  of 
the  Constitution,  each  of  the  several  states  surrendered  to  the 
Federal  government  all  jurisdiction  over  the  subjects  of  com 
merce  and  navigation  upon  the  high  seas. 

"Resolved^  That  slavery,  being  an  abridgment  of  the  natural 
rights  of  man,  can  exist  only  by  force  of  positive  municipal 
law,  and  is  necessarily  confined  to  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of 
the  power  creating  it. 

"Resolved)  That  when  a  ship  belonging  to  the  citizens  of 
any  state  of  this  Union  leaves  the  waters  and  territory  of  such 
state,  and  enters  upon  the  high  seas,  the  persons  on  board  cease 
to  be  subject  to  the  slave  laws  of  such  state,  and  thenceforth 
are  governed  in  their  relations  to  each  other  by,  and  are  amen 
able  to,  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

"Resolved)  That  when  the  brig  *  Creole,'  on  her  late  passage 
for  New  Orleans,  left  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  Virginia,  the 
slave  laws  of  that  state  ceased  to  have  jurisdiction  over  the 
persons  on  board  said  brig,  and  such  persons  became  amenable 
only  to  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 


278  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

"Resolved,  That  the  persons  on  board  the  said  ship,  in  re 
suming  their  natural  rights  of  personal  liberty,  violated  no  law 
of  the  United  States,  incurred  no  legal  penalty,  and  are  justly 
liable  to  no  punishment. 

"Resolved,  That  all  attempts  to  regain  possession  of,  or  to 
re-enslave  said  persons,  are  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution 
or  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  are  incompatible  with  our 
national  honor. 

"  Resolved,  That  all  attempts  to  exert  our  national  influence 
in  favor  of  the  coastwise  slave-trade,  or  to  place  this  nation  in 
the  attitude  of  maintaining  <  a  commerce  in  human  beings/  are 
subversive  of  the  rights  and  injurious  to  the  feelings  and  the  in 
terests  of  the  free  states — are  unauthorized  by  the  Constitution, 
and  prejudicial  to  our  national  character." 

The  reading  of  the  resolutions  produced  an  immediate  ferment 
in  the  House.  Various  motions  were  made — among  them,  a 
motion  by  Mr.  Everett,  of  Vermont,  to  lay  the  resolutions  on 
the  table — which  failed.  The  previous  question  was  demanded 
and  seconded,  and  the  main  question,  which  would  have  been 
on  their  adoption,  was  ordered  to  be  taken,  when  Mr.  Gid- 
dings,  availing  himself  of  the  control  which,  under  the  construc 
tion  then  given  to  the  parliamentary  rule,  he  possessed,  with 
drew  the  resolutions.  This  he  did,  because  he  saw  that,  under 
the  excitement  of  the  moment,  his  political  friends  from  the 
North  would  be  likely  to  commit  themselves  against  the  doc 
trines  of  his  resolutions,  thereby  placing  themselves  in  a  false  po 
sition  concerning  the  rights  of  the  states  which  they  represented 

Immediately  on  this  annunciation,  Mr.  Botts,  of  Virginia, 
remarking  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  matter  did  not  affect  the 
motive  or  object  with  which  it  had  been  offered,  moved  a  sus 
pension  of  the  rules  that  he  might  introduce  the  following  pre 
amble  and  resolution : 

"  Whereas  the  Honorable  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  the  member 
from  the  sixteenth  Congressional  District  of  the  State  of  Ohio, 
has  this  day  presented  to  this  House  a  series  of  resolutions 
touching  the  most  important  interests  connected  with  a  large 
portion  of  the  Union,  now  a  subject  of  negotiation  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  of  the  most  delicate  nature, 
the  result  of  which  may  eventually  involve  those  nations,  and 
perhaps  the  whole  civilized  world,  in  war  : 


JOSHUA  REED   GIDDINGS.  279 

"  And  whereas  it  is  the  duty  of  every  good  citizen,  and  par 
ticularly  every  selected  agent  and  representative  of  the  people, 
to  discountenance  all  efforts  to  create  excitement,  dissatisfac 
tion,  and  division  among  the  people  of  the  United  States  at 
such  a  time  and  under  such  circumstances,  which  is  the  only 
effect  to  be  accomplished  by  the  introduction  of  sentiments  be 
fore  the  legislative  body  of  the  country  hostile  to  the  grounds 
assumed  by  the  high  functionary  having  in  charge  this  impor 
tant  and  delicate  trust : 

"  And  whereas  mutiny  and  murder  are  therein  justified  and 
approved  in  terms  shocking  to  all  sense  of  law,  order,  and  hu 
manity  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  this  House  holds  the  conduct  of  the  said 
member  as  altogether  unwarranted  and  unwarrantable,  and  de 
serving  the  severe  condemnation  of  the  people  of  this  country, 
and  of  this  body  in  particular." 

To  effect  a  suspension  of  the  rules,  a  vote  of  two  thirds  of  the 
members  present  was  required.  This  was  not  obtained,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  members  recording  their  names  in 
the  affirmative,  and  sixty-eight  in  the  negative. 

Mr.  Giddings  had  introduced  his  proposition  in  the  regular 
order  of  business,  which  was  the  call  of  the  states  for  resolu 
tions.  The  call  still  resting  with  the  State  of  Ohio,  Mr.  John 
B.  Weller,  adopting  Mr.  Botts's  resolution,  now  offered  it  as 
his  own,  and  demanded  the  previous  question  upon  its  passage. 

The  Congressional  Globe  says : 

"  Mr.  Isaac  E.  Holmes  desired  to  be  informed  whether,  if  the 
call  for  the  previous  question  was  sustained,  it  would  preclude 
the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Giddings)  from  offering  his  de 
fense. 

"  The  speaker  said,  that  if  the  previous  question  was  ordered, 
it  would  be  the  right  of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  to  raise  a 
question  of  privilege,  and  to  be  heard  in  his  own  defense,  as  the 
resolution  involved  the  character  and  privileges  of  that  gentle 
man. 

"  Mr.  Weller  and  Mr.  Holmes  conversed  across  with  each 
other,  but  of  what  passed  the  reporter  has  no  idea,  except  the 
declaration  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Holmes,  (  Fiat  justitia,  mat 
caelum.' 

"  A  motion  was  made  that  the  House  do  now  adjourn,  on 


280  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

which  motion  the  yeas  and  nays  were  asked  and  ordered,  and, 
being  taken,  were,  yeas  63,  nays  111.  So  the  House  refused 
to  adjourn. 

"Mr.  Giddings  inquired  of  the  speaker  whether,  if  the  pre 
vious  question  was  sustained,  he  would  have  an  opportunity 
to  defend  himself. 

"  The  Speaker.  '  If  the  previous  question  is  sustained,  the 
rule  of  the  House  would  require  that  the  vote  on  the  resolution 
be  immediately  taken.' 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  Would  it  not  be  a  privileged  question  ?' 

"  The  Speaker.  '  In  the  opinion  of  the  chair,  the  gentleman 
would  have  the  right,  if  he  desires  it,  to  be  heard  now  in  his 
defense.' 

"Mr.  Giddings  said  he  would  ask  of  the  House  to  fix  a  time 
for  the  consideration  of  this  resolution. 

"  Mr.  Botts  hoped  the  House  would  allow  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  to  defend  himself,  if  he  wished. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  wished  the  House  to  fix  such  a  time  as  they 
thought  proper.  He  would  say  two  weeks  from  this  day.  He 
did  not  suppose  the  House  would  force  him  into  his  defense 
now." 

The  House  then  became  involved  in  a  point  of  order,  and  a 
decision  was  made  by  the  speaker  that  the  demand  for  the  pre 
vious  question  could  not  be  entertained,  because  the  gentleman 
arraigned  asked  a  postponement  of  his  trial ;  and,  if  the  previ 
ous  question  should  be  entertained  by  the  chair,  and  demanded 
by  the  House,  it  would  deny  the  member  that  privilege.  An 
appeal  was  taken  from  this  decision,  and  while  it  was  yet  pend 
ing  the  House  adjourned. 

On  the  following  day,  Tuesday,  the  22d  of  March,  1842,  the 
subject  came  up  as  a  question  of  privilege.  The  decision  of 
the  speaker  was  reversed,  and  the  House  decided  that  the  pre 
vious  question  should  be  entertained. 

Mr.  Weller  now  offered  to  withdraw  the  demand  for  the  pre 
vious  question,  so  that  Mr.  Giddings  might  be  heard,  with  the 
understanding  that,  after  the  defense  was  closed,  the  vote 
should  immediately  be  taken,  without  further  debate.  The 
speaker  declared  that  the  demand  must  be  withdrawn  uncon 
ditionally,  or  not  at  all.  Mr.  Weller  declining  so  to  withdraw 
it,  Mr.  Giddings  rose  and  addressed  the  speaker,  who  called 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  281 

him  to  order,  on  the  ground  that  the  House  had  reversed  the 
decision  of  the  chair,  and  had  thus  decided  that  the  rules  ap 
plicable  to  the  previous  question  should  be  rigidly  enforced. 
Mr.  Triplett  moved  that  Mr.  Giddings  be  heard  in  his  defense, 
but  the  speaker  declared  that  that  object  could  only  be  effected 
by  a  suspension  of  the  rules.  The  demand  for  the  previous 
question  was  then  seconded,  and  the  House  decided  that  the 
main  question,  which  was  on  the  adoption  of  the  resolution, 
should  be  taken.  The  record  then  says  : 

"  Mr.  Weller  moved  that  the  rules  of  the  House  be  suspend 
ed,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  his  colleague  [Mr.  Giddings]  to 
be  heard  now^  if  he  desired  it. 

"  Mr.  Barnard.  '  I  hope  not.' 

"  Mr.  Everett.  '  It  is  a  matter  of  right,  if  it  is  any  thing.' 

"  Mr.  Stanley.  '  I  hope  no  objection  will  be  made.' 

"  The  speaker  said  that  the  House  having  decided  that  the 
forty-fifth  rule  was  imperative,  and  should  be  rigorously  exe 
cuted,  no  motion,  in  the  opinion  of  the  chair,  would  now  be  in 
order,  except  a  motion  to  adjourn,  or  to  lay  the  whole  subject 
on  the  table. 

"  Mr.  Weller.  '  My  motion  is  a  motion  to  suspend  the  rules.' 

"  The  speaker  decided  that  that  motion  could  not  be  enter 
tained  ;  that  the  previous  question  having  been  seconded,  and 
the  main  question  ordered,  no  motion  could  intervene  between 
that  and  the  taking  of  the  main  question,  except  a  motion  to 
adjourn  and  a  motion  to  lay  on  the  table. 

"  Mr.  Triplett  said  he  would  make  this  specific  motion  to  the 
House :  that  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Giddings]  be  now 
heard  in  his  defense ;  and  inquired,  '  Will  the  speaker  put  the 
motion  ?' 

"  The  Speaker.  '  The  speaker  will  not  put  it.  It  is  not  in 
order.' 

"  Mr.  Triplett.  '  Then  I  move  to  suspend  all  the  rules,  right 
or  wrong,  that  this  specific  motion  may  be  put.' 

"  The  Speaker.  <  The  chair  has  already  decided  that  that 
motion  is  not  in  order.' " 

An  appeal  was  taken  from  this  decision,  which,  however, 
was  affirmed  by  the  House.  Motions  were  made  that  Mr.  Gid 
dings  should,  if  he  desired  to  speak,  be  heard  by  general  con 
sent  ;  but  he  declined  to  rise.  Mr.  Adams  moved  to  lay  the 


282  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

whole  subject  on  the  table,  but  the  motion  was  rejected,  sev 
enty  members  voting  in  the  affirmative,  and  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  in  the  negative.  A  motion  was  then  again  made 
by  Mr.  Campbell,  of  South  Carolina,  that  Mr.  Giddings  should, 
by  general  consent,  be  heard  in  his  own  defense.  The  speaker 
decided  that  the  motion  could  not  now  be  entertained. 

The  record  says : 

"  Mr.  Giddings  then  rose  and  said,  *  I  stand  before  the  House 
in  a  peculiar  situation — ' 

"  Mr.  Mark  A.  Cooper,  of  Georgia,  objected  to  Mr.  Giddings's 
proceeding,  but,  at  the  request  of  colleagues,  withdrew  his  ob 
jections. 

"  But  Mr.  Giddings  did  not  resume  the  floor. 

"  [The  following  note  was  addressed  to  the  reporter  of  the 
'  National  Intelligencer'  by  Mr.  Giddings : 

"  '  To  THE  REPORTER  OF  THE  INTELLIGENCER, — When  I  rose 
so  often  during  the  confusion  of  the  proceedings  of  the  House 
this  day,  and  was  so  often  called  to  order,  the  last  time  by  Mr. 
Cooper,  of  Georgia,  I  had  written,  and  desired  to  state  to  the 
House  what  follows : 

"'"Mr.  Speaker.  I  stand  before  the  House  in  a  peculiar 
situation.  It  is  proposed  to  pass  a  vote  of  censure  upon  me, 
substantially  for  the  reason  that  I  differ  in  opinion  from  a  ma 
jority  of  the  members.  The  vote  is  about  to  be  taken  without 
giving  me  time  to  be  heard.  It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  say 
that  I  am  ignorant  of  the  disposition  of  a  majority  to  pass  the 
resolution.  I  have  been  violently  assailed  in  a  personal  man 
ner,  but  have  had  no  opportunity  of  being  heard  in  reply.  I 
do  not  now  stand  here  to  ask  for  any  favor,  or  to  crave  any 
mercy  at  the  hands  of  the  members.  But,  in  the  name  of  an 
insulted  constituency — in  behalf  of  one  of  the  sovereign  states 
of  this  Union — in  behalf  of  the  people  of  these  states  and  the 
Federal  Constitution — I  demand  a  hearing,  agreeably  to  the 
rights  guarantied  to  me,  and  in  the  ordinary  mode  of  proceed 
ing.  I  accept  of  no  other  privilege — I  will  receive  no  other 
courtesy." '] 

"And  the  question  recurring,  first,  on  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolution — 

"  *  Resolved,  That  this  House  hold  the  conduct  of  the  said 
member  as  altogether  unwarranted  and  unwarrantable,  and 


JOSHUA  REED   GIDDINGS.  283 

deserving  the  severe  condemnation  of  the  people  of  this  coun 
try,  and  of  this  body  in  particular'  " — 

The  vote  was  taken,  and  stood  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  yeas  against  sixty-nine  nays.  The  resolution,  therefore, 
was  adopted;  and  the  question  on  the  preamble  having  been 
also  taken,  the  vote  was  one  hundred  and  nineteen  in  favor, 
and  sixty-six  against  it. 

Immediately  upon  the  annunciation  of  this  result,  Mr.  Old* 
dings  resigned  his  seat,  and  took  his  departure  for  home. 

On  his  arrival  in  Trumbull  county,  within  fifty  miles  of  his 
residence,  he  found  the  people  under  great  excitement.  He 
reached  the  village  of  Warren  in  the  morning.  He  was  con 
strained  to  stop  and  address  the  people.  A  few  hours  brought 
an  immense  concourse  together.  At  this  gathering,  General 
Perkins,  one  of  the  most  influential  men  of  the  state,  presided. 
A  gentleman  of  high  standing  in  the  Democratic  party  brought 
forward  a  resolution  approving  the  course  of  Mr.  Giddings,  made 
a  speech  in  his  favor,  and  proposed  that  he  should  be  regarded 
as  a  candidate  for  re-election,  without  any  nomination  by  Con 
vention.  There  was  entire  unanimity  of  feeling,  and  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  meeting  were  published  the  next  morning  in  an 
extra  and  sent  through  the  district.  When  he  arrived  at  home, 
he  found  a  committee  from  Lake  county  awaiting  his  return,  in 
order  to  urge  his  attendance  at  a  meeting  of  the  people  there. 
In  short,  in  every  county  of  the  district  he  addressed  public 
meetings,  at  which  the  strongest  sympathy  for  himself,  mingled 
with  a  spirit  of  determined  opposition  to  the  proceedings  of  Con 
gress,  was  manifested.  The  result  was  his  triumphant  re-elec 
tion  to  a  seat  in  Congress. 

Since  that  time  he  has  omitted  no  opportunity  to  inculcate 
and  enforce  his  opinions  on  the  same  general  subject.  The  an 
nexation  of  Texas  and  the  Mexican  war,  both  of  which  he  has 
strenuously  opposed  in  every  stage,  have  opened  to  him,  as  to 
others,  an  ample  field  for  discussions  of  this  kind.  In  the  case 
of  Texas,  when  the  joint  resolutions  for  its  annexation  to  the 
Union  were  under  discussion,  he  attempted  to  introduce  a  pro 
viso  that  all  the  negotiations  be  made  on  the  express  under 
standing  that,  in  fixing  the  ratio  of  representation  in  Congress, 
no  state  hereafter  to  be  formed  out  of  the  territory  included  in 
the  boundaries  of  Texas  should  include  other  than  the  free  pop- 


284  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

ulation  therein.  At  a  subsequent  period  he  introduced  the  fol 
lowing  declaratory  resolutions,  which  the  House  ordered  to  be 
laid  upon  the  table  : 

"  Resolved,  That,  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Consti 
tution,  each  of  the  several  states  composing  this  Union  pos 
sessed  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  institution  of  slavery  with 
in  its  own  territory,  with  power  to  continue  or  abolish  it  at 
pleasure. 

"  That,  by  adopting  the  Federal  Constitution,  no  portion  of 
the  powers  aforesaid  were  delegated  to  the  Federal  government. 

"  That  the  existence,  maintenance,  and  continuance  of  slave 
ry  must  depend  exclusively  upon  the  power  and  authority  of  the 
states  in  which  it  is  situated. 

"  That  the  Federal  government,  possessing  110  powers  except 
those  delegated  by  the  several  states,  is  clearly  destitute  of  all 
authority  to  establish,  support,  extend,  or  perpetuate  slavery. 

"  That  all  attempts  of  the  executive  and  of  Congress  to  as 
sociate  a  foreign  slave-holding  people  in  making  and  adminis 
tering  the  laws  of  this  nation  are  in  palpable  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  destructive  to  the  interests  and  the  honor  of  the 
free  states,  and  will  constitute  an  outrage  upon  the  rights  and 
the  honor  of  those  states,  unequaled  in  the  history  of  civilized 
government. 

"  That  no  act  of  the  Federal  government  can  impose  any  ob 
ligation  whatever  upon  the  free  states  to  unite  with  Texas 
upon  terms  so  unequal  and  unjust,  and  so  palpably  opposed  to 
their  constitutional  rights,  and  subversive  of  their  reserved 
powers. 

"  That  a  voluntary  surrender  by  the  free  states  of  their  in 
terests,  their  political  rights,  and  their  sacred  honor,  to  the 
keeping  of  slaveholders,  would  prove  them  unworthy  of  the 
trust  reposed  in  them  by  their  Revolutionary  ancestors." 

He  was  one  of  the  fourteen  who  voted  against  the  act  of  the 
13th  of  May,  declaring  the  existence  of  a  state  of  war  with 
Mexico  [see  title,  ROBERT  C.  WINTIIROP],  and  he  has  since  then 
uniformly  voted  against  all  supplies  and  appropriations  for  its 
prosecution. 

He  introduced,  in  1842,  the  first  petition  ever  presented  to 
Congress,  calling  its  attention  to  the  wheat-growing  interests 
of  the  Northwest,  and  asking  the  adoption  of  such  measures  as 


JOSHUA   REED    GIDDINGS.  285 

would  procure  the  admission  of  our  wheat  into  foreign  ports  "on 
terms  of  reciprocity.  The  petition  came  from  a  number  of 
gentlemen  of  Warren,  in  the  county  of  Trumbull,  Ohio.  A 
select  committee  was  appointed,  which  had  not  discharged  its 
duties  when,  in  consequence  of  the  vote  of  censure,  Mr.  Gid- 
dings  resigned  his  seat. 

He  has  sustained  river  and  harbor  appropriations  in  no  sec 
tional  spirit,  but  upon  the  ground  that,  while  the  West  cheer 
fully  contributed  its  wealth  and  influence  to  support,  maintain, 
and  protect  Atlantic  interests,  it  demanded,  in  return,  the  same 
generous  support  for  the  commerce  of  the  Lakes. 

Though  opposed  in  the  twenty-eighth  Congress  to  giving  the 
notice  to  Great  Britain  to  terminate  the  joint  occupation  of  the 
Oregon  Territory,  he  was  in  favor  of  it  in  the  twenty-ninth, 
His  reasons  were  these :  that  the  policy  of  the  nation,  since  the 
expiration  of  the  twenty-eighth  Congress,  had  been  changed, 
and,  with  it,  the  essential  elements  of  our  government  had  been 
changed,  and  its  fundamental  principles  overthrown.  By  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  he  argued,  the  balance  of  power  had  been 
taken  from  the  northern  section  of  the  Union,  and  had  render 
ed  the  whole  of  Oregon  necessary  to  its  restoration.  He  did 
not  believe  that  the  giving  the  notice  would  produce  war,  but  was 
inclined  to  the  opinion  that  war  would  be  the  result  of  the  sub 
sequent  step — that  is  to  say,  of  taking  possession  of  the  whole 
territory.  But  even  this  issue,  with  all  its  horrors,  revolting  as 
they  were  to  the  feelings  of  humanity,  he  would  prefer,  rather 
than  see  the  people  sit  down  in  quiet  indifference  under  the 
slave-holding  power. 

It  is  known  that,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  ses 
sion  of  Congress,  he  separated  from  the  great  body  of  the  Whig 
party  on  the  question  of  the  election  of  speaker.  He  gives 
this  explanation :  that  Mr.  Winthrop,  during  the  twenty-ninth 
Congress,  serving  on  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  had 
united  in  reporting  all  the  various  appropriations  for  carrying  on 
the  war  against  Mexico.  Believing,  as  Mr.  Giddings  does,  that 
that  war  is  unnecessary  and  unjust,  and  that  the  invasion  of 
Mexico  is  an  outrage  upon  her  people,  he  regards  every  life  sac 
rificed  in  its  prosecution  as  murder,  attended  with  all  the  moral 
guilt  which  attaches  to  that  crime.  He  considers  that  all  who 
aid  in  any  degree  in  maintaining  or  supporting  the  war,  are 


286  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

necessarily  involved  in  the  responsibility  of  these  outrages ;  and 
believing  that  Mr.  Winthrop  would  so  constitute  the  Commit 
tees  of  Ways  and  Means  and  of  Foreign  Affairs  as  not  to  se 
cure  reports  in  favor  of  arresting  the  war,  but  rather  in  favor 
of  its  further  prosecution,  he  could  not,  consistently  with  his 
views  of  moral  duty,  cast  his  vote  for  that  gentleman  without 
involving  himself  in  the  responsibility  of  sustaining  it. 

We  have  thus  endeavored  to  present  an  impartial  memoir  of 
a  man  who,  for  good  or  for  evil,  has  filled  some  space  in  the 
public  mind.  He  is  known  to  have  charged  upon  us,  in  our 
official  connection  with  him,  a  prejudice  so  strong  as  to  inca 
pacitate  us  from  giving  a  fair  representation  of  his  course. 
While  we  have  never  been  conscious  of  such  a  prejudice,  we 
have  taken  no  measures  to  remove  the  impression  of  its  exist 
ence. 

A  running  debate  occurred  one  day,  in  which  Mr.  Giddings 
and  a  Western  member  sustained  the  principal  parts.  Some 
spirited  questions  and  retorts  passed  between  them.  The  next 
morning,  both  were  dissatisfied  with  the  report,  and  both  com 
plained  of  us.  Mr.  Giddings,  who  thought  that  the  Western 
member  had,  by  our  agency,  been  made  to  come  off  the  best, 
consoled  himself  with  the  reflection  that  our  attachment  to 
Southern  institutions  was  so  strong  as  seriously  to  bias  our 
judgment  and  warp  our  feelings  in  his  disfavor.  The  Western 
member,  on  the  contrary,  complained  that  he  had  not  only  been 
untruly,  but  unfairly  reported,  and  ascribed  the  fact  to  our 
sympathy  with  Mr.  Giddings  and  his  anti-slavery  doctrines. 
We  repelled  the  imputation  of  unfairness,  but  maintained  si 
lence  as  to  the  other  complaints.  Time  passed  on,  and  at  a 
subsequent  session  we  informed  both  gentlemen  of  the  fact 
that  we  were  not  at  our  post  when  that  portion  of  the  debate 
took  place,  and  that  the  whole  report  was  the  work  of  another 
hand.  This  was  what  the  lawyers  call  an  alibi. 

We  believe  Mr.  Giddings  to  be  a  sincere  man ;  we  know  him 
to  be  an  able  and  an  eloquent  man.  The  odium  which  attaches 
itself  to  the  peculiar  opinions  he  entertains,  has  kept  him  down 
from  that  position  in  the  House  which,  under  other  circumstan 
ces,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  occupied.  He  is  called  a  dem 
agogue  ;  with  what  truth,  the  country  will  judge.  Names, 
Mirabeau  remarked,  were  sometimes  things.  They  frequent- 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  287 

ly  take  the  place  of  arguments,  and  accomplish  ends  where 
arguments  would  fail.  But,  whatever  of  demagogism  may 
have  been  evinced  in  the  House  in  relation  to  the  question  of 
slavery — and  there  has  certainly  been  much — it  is  but  truth  to 
add  that  it  has  not  been  all  on  the  part  of  the  North.  The 
South  has  made  its  exhibitions  too ;  and  the  future  historian 
must  tell  whether  much  of  the  excitement  which,  for  many 
years  previous  to  the  repeal  of  the  twenty-first  rule,  pervaded 
the  House  and  disgraced  its  deliberations,  has  not  grown  out  of 
the  proceedings  of  Southern  men,  who  have  fed  the  flames  of 
that  excitement.  Whatever  portion  of  the  responsibility  of  these 
things,  if  any,  belongs  to  Mr.  Giddings,  he  must  take.  It  is 
not  our  province  to  screen  him.  Nor  has  he  sought  our  aid. 
He  claims  that  the  war  on  his  part  has  at  all  times  been  a 
war  of  defense,  and  that  he  has  never,  in  a  solitary  instance, 
introduced  the  subject  of  slavery  except  for  the  purpose  of  re 
lieving  the  North  from  what  he  deems  its  unconstitutional  sup 
port  of  that  institution. 

Recognizing  no  expediency,  and  sparing  no  object  which  he 
regards  as  legitimately  open  to  his  attacks,  there  is  an  intense 
bitterness  in  his  expression — a  concentration  of  wormwood  in 
his  language — which,  to  those  who  do  not  know  the  man,  would 
betoken  a  ferocity  of  disposition  painful  to  contemplate.  Yet, 
that  the  reader  may  judge  whether  even  this  cause  of  complaint 
has  been  all  on  his  side,  or  to  what  extent,  if  at  all,  those  of 
the  South  who  oppose  him  in  debate  have  fallen  below  his 
standard,  we  take  a  few  extracts  from  the  records. 

In  February,  1845,  pending  a  discourse  on  the  bill  making 
appropriations  for  the  current  and  contingent  expenses  of  the 
Indian  Department,  and  for  fulfilling  treaty  stipulations  with 
the  Indian  tribes,  the  following  scene  is  recorded  in  the  Con 
gressional  Globe : 

"  Mr.  Giddings  took  the  floor,  and  spoke  against  the  bill  mainly  on  the  ground 
of  certain  objectionable  items  therein  contained ;  reviewing,  also,  the  history  of 
our  past,  and  examining  the  features  of  our  present  Indian  policy. 

"  One  of  his  objections  was,  that  appropriations  were  made  for  objects  which 
the  country  did  not  generally  understand.  From  the  foundation  of  the  govern- 
ment  of  the  United  States,  Congress  had  uniformly  refused  to  pay  for  any  slaves 
of  Southern  gentlemen,  and,  consequently,  the  claimants  for  slaves  had  left  Con 
gress  in  disgust,  and  gone  to  the  executive  departments,  who  had  paid  them. 
Many  gentlemen  here  were  not  aware  of  the  principles  on  which  the  government 
had  steadily  and  uniformly  refused  to  make  compensation  for  slave  property.  He 
referred  to  the  case  of  Francis  Large,  who  had  a  negro  and  a  horse  and  cart  im- 


288  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS, 

pressed  a  day  or  two  before  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  The  horse  and  negro 
were  killed,  and  the  cart  destroyed ;  and  when  the  claim  came  before  Congress, 
compensation  was  allowed  for  the  horse  and  cart,  but  Congress  refused  to  pay  for 
the  negro,  ou  the  ground  that  compensation  ought  not  to  be  made  for  persons. 
Notwithstanding,  the  executive  power  had  usurped  the  legislative  functions  of 
the  government,  and,  in  paying  for  slave  property,  had  brought  this  government 
to  support  the  immoral  and  detestable  institution  of  slavery.  Mr.  Giddings  then 
went  on  to  explain  the  treaty  under  which  Indians  were  compelled  to  pay  for  prop 
erty  stolen  by  them,  and  went  into  a  statement  in  relation  to  claims  that  had  been 
made  on  the  Creek  Indians  by  the  slaveholders  of  Georgia  for  negroes  that  had 
run  away,  and  been  retained  by  such  Indians,  for  which  they  were  made  to  pay 
more  than  three  or  four  times  the  value,  the  money  having  been  deducted  out  of 
their  annuities.  He  also  stated  that  the  slaveholders  of  Georgia,  not  satisfied  with 
this,  claimed  $149,000  which  was  in  the  hands  of  the  government,  belonging  to 
the  Indians ;  and  a  committee  of  this  House,  a  majority  of  whom  were  slavehold 
ers,  made  a  report,  containing  the  monstrous  proposition  that  this  $149,000  should 
be  appropriated  to  those  slaveholders  of  Georgia,  as  a  compensation  for  the  value 
of  the  children  that  would  have  been  born  of  their  runaway  negro  women,  had 
they  remained  in  slavery. 

"  This  proposition  was  so  monstrous  that  it  was  not  adopted  by  the  House. 
Now,  it  would  be  asked,  what  had  all  this  to  do  with  the  bill  before  the  commit 
tee  ?  Why,  a  number  of  negroes  who  ran  away  in  Florida,  and  fled  to  the  Semi- 
nole  bands,  intermarried  with  these  Indians,  and  many  of  the  chiefs  had  negro 
wives  and  negro  children.  Now,  when  the  Florida  Indians  were  subdued,  and 
were  about  to  be  removed  froni  that  territory,  they  refused  to  go  into  the  district 
allotted  to  the  Creeks,  because  they  demanded  that  they  should  surrender  up  their 
negro  wives  and  children  to  them,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  been,  prior  to  this, 
compelled  to  pay  for  runaway  negroes  three  or  four  times  as  much  as  they  ought 
to  have  paid.  It  was  to  these  points  he  had  called  the  attention  of  the  committee, 
and  he  wished  to  call  the  attention  of  the  country.  He  desired  to  call  the  atten 
tion  of  the  executive  department  and  the  people  to  the  fact  that  legislative  func 
tions  had  been  usurped  by  the  executive  within  the  past  few  years  in  a  manner 
never  before  known  in  the  country. 

"  Mr.  E.  J.  Black  desired  to  say  a  few  words,  not  in  reply  to  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio,  because  he  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  reply  to  him.  That  gentleman  had 
been  used  up,  and  kicked  about  in  every  corner  of  the  House  too  often  for  him 
to  think  it  worth  while  to  notice  him.  The  course  of  that  member  had  been  such, 
that,  if  the  colony  of  Monrovia  was  one  of  the  appendages  of  the  government,  and 
he  was  President  of  the  United  States,  he  would  send  him  there ;  for  he  did  not 
know  a  man  in  the  United  States  that  would  be  better  fitted  for  the  society  there. 
The  speech  of  the  member  was  an  old  song  that  he  had  often  sung  before,  and  al 
ways  sung  the  worse  every  time  he  repeated  it.  He  remembered,  four  years  ago, 
when  the  member  stood  in  Sleepy  Hollow  there,  and  delivered  the  same  speech; 
but  it  was  a  much  better  speech  then  than  now,  because  it  was  new.  Did  not 
the  gentleman  remember  how  he  replied  to  him,  and  told  him  that  slavery  was 
no  evil,  and  that  the  people  of  Georgia  did  not  consider  it  as  an  evil  ?  He  would 
tell  him  now  that  they  did  not  consider  it  an  evil.  Did  the  gentleman  contradict 
him  ?  If  the  gentleman  thought  that  the  people  of  Georgia,  or  a  single,  solitary 
district  of  Georgia,  thought  slavery  an  evil,  he  would  yield  him  the  floor  to  enable 
him  to  say  so,  and  give  his  authority  for  it. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  rose  and  said:  '  Have  I  the  floor,  Mr.  Chairman?' 
"  Mr.  Black.  '  I  yield  the  gentleman  the  floor  for  that  purpose  only— to  reply 
to  my  question.' 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  289 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  have  the  floor,  I  believe  ?' 

"  A^r.  Black.  '  To  reply  to  that  question  only.  I  retain  the  floor,  so  that  I  can 
answer  him.' 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  intend  to  reply  at  length.'  Mr.  Giddings  then  made  a  few 
remarks,  which  the  reporter  did  not  distinctly  hear,  when 

"  Mr.  Black  rose  and  said  he  had  yielded  the  floor  to  the  gentleman  to  answer 
one  single  question.  He  had  told  him  that  the  people  of  Georgia  did  not  regard 
slavery  as  an  evil,  and  that  he  would  yield  him  the  floor  to  deny  it,  if  he  thought 
proper.  For  no  other  purpose  would  he  yield  him  the  floor. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  would  say,  with  all  due  deference  to  the  House,  that  he  did  not 
think  it  incumbent  on  him  to  answer  the  low,  dirty,  and  vulgar  tirade  of  abuse 
that  had  been  heaped  on  him  by  the  gentleman  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Black).  This 
was  not  a  place  for  statesmen  to  indulge  in  or  reply  to  such  language.  He  came 
not  here — the  people  he  represented  never  sent  him  here — for  any  such  purpose ; 
for,  when  they  sent  their  servants  here,  they  expected  them  to  speak  on  subjects 
interesting  to  them  and  to  the  nation. 

"  Mr.  Black  here  called  on  the  gentleman  to  answer  his  question. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  continued.  '  The  people  expected  their  representatives  to  speak 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  money  drawn  from  their  pockets  had  been  paid  over 
to  the  slave-drivers  of  Georgia,  without  reference  to  the  low  and  vulgar  tirades  of 
abuse  that  might  be  uttered  on  that  floor.' 

"  Mr.  Black  again  called  on  the  gentleman  to  answer  his  question. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  continued.  He  said  that,  in  consequence  of  paying  the  slave 
holders  of  Georgia  for  unborn  children  that  were  never  begotten  [laughter],  when 
the  government  took  from  his  constituents  their  money  for  this  execrable  purpose, 
they  expected  that  he,  their  representative,  should  speak  of  it  in  the  terms  it  de 
served.  It  was  true  that  he  did,  four  years  ago,  bring  these  facts  to  the  notice  of 
the  House ;  and  how  many  of  the  reporters  were  there  who  noticed  what  he  said  ? 
How  many  members  were  there  who  knew  them?  Had  the  press  thundered 
these  astounding  facts  in  the  ears  of  the  people  of  the  North  ?  He  thanked  his 
God  that  the  time  was  coming  when  the  press  would  be  obliged  to  speak  out  on 
this  subject.  The  North  was  waking  up,  and  would,  before  long,  demand  that 
this  government  should  no  longer  sanction  the  immoral  and  inhuman  institution 
of  slavery. 

"  In  reference  to  the  gentleman's  question,  he  would  say  that  he  had  no  idea 
that  the  people  of  his  district  should  estimate  the  value  of  Southern  slaves,  born  or 
unborn,  begotten  or  unbegotten.  That  was  the  gentleman's  peculiar  business,  and 
to  him  he  would  leave  it.  '  But,'  said  Mr.  Giddings,  '  when  he  calls  on  us  to  pay 
for  them,  then  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every  Northern  man  to  speak  out,  and  to  let 
the  country  know  that  their  rights  are  thus  trampled  on.  The  freemen  of  the 
North,  Whigs  or  Democrats,  when  they  find  themselves  taxed,  and  their  money 
taken  from  them  to  pay  for  Southern  slaves,  expect  their  representatives  to  raise 
their  voice  against  it.' 

"  He  proceeded  to  say  that  he  and  his  friends  did  not  interfere  with,  nor  en 
croach  on  the  rights  of  the  people  of  the  South  ;  and  if  the  gentleman  from  Geor 
gia  could  show  that  it  was  their  duty  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery, 
let  him  do  so. 

"  Mr.  E.  J.  Black  asked  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  to  answer  the  question  and 
discuss  the  point  which  he  had  put  to  him.  He  had  spoken  fifteen  minutes  with 
out  touching  the  point,  whether  the  people  of  Georgia,  or  any  portion  of  them, 
denounced  slavery  as  an  evil. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said  he  was  not  the  representative  of  Georgia. 

"  Mr.  E.  J.  Black  then  called  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  to  order. 

VOL.  I.— T 


290  HISTORY   OP   CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said  he  had  the  floor,  and  he  would  not  yield  it  until  he  had  exr 
hausted  his  hour. 

"  Mr.  E.  J.  Black  said  he  had  only  yielded  the  floor  for  a  particular  object,  and 
if  the  member  from  Ohio  did  not  intend  to  touch  upon  that,  he  (Mr.  Black)  should 
claim  the  floor. 

"  The  chairman  stated  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  had  refused  to  accept  the  floor 
otherwise  than  unrestricted,  and  to  this  the  chair  understood  that  the  gentleman 
from  Georgia  assented. 

"  A  long  conversation  ensued,  and  various  appeals  were  taken,  and  ultimately 
the  decision  of  the  chair  was  reversed,  and  the  floor  was  restored  to  the  gentle 
man  from  Georgia. 

"  Mr.  Black  then  resumed.  He  said  it  might  be  that  he  was  in  error  when  he 
undertook  to  speak  to  or  of  the  member  from  Ohio.  The  member  from  Ohio  had 
complained  that  he  had  been  assailed  in  a  low,  dirty  tirade.  He  (Mr.  Black)  did 
not  regret  the  language  he  had  used  to  that  individual ;  he  only  regretted  that 
there  was  occasion  or  necessity  to  speak  to,  or  of  him,  at  all  on  this  floor.  No 
well-bred  man  could  speak  to,  or  of  that  individual,  or  even  look  at  him,  without 
becoming  low  and  dirty.  He  (Mr.  Black)  was  sorry  the  occasion  required  him 
to  repel  the  slanders  of  the  member  from  Ohio  on  the  people  that  he  (Mr.  Black) 
represented  in  part.  He  regretted  that  the  thousand  and  one  slanders  of  the  mem 
ber  from  Ohio  against  the  people  of  Georgia  required  that  he  should  notice  that 
member  at  all.  The  member  from  Ohio  talked  about  his  character,  and  yet  how 
often  had  he  stood  there  and  told  the  most  marvelous  stories  about  the  oppression 
of  the  slaves?  Bat  the  other  day  that  person  told  an  anecdote,  on  this  floor,  of  a 
slave  who  first  attempted  to  cut  his  throat,  and  afterward  drowned  himself  in 
yonder  canal,  from  fear  of  being  sold  by  his  owner.  Now  he  (Mr.  Black)  had 
made  it  his  business  to  investigate  this  matter,  and  he  had  ascertained  that  it  was 
false  from  beginning  to  end.  He  had  ascertained  that  the  negro  fellow,  for  whom 
the  gentinman  had  expressed  so  much  sympathy,  so  far  from  drowning  himself 
under  the  influence  of  an  apprehension  of  the  renewed  horrors  of  slavery,  pre 
tended  to  cut  his  throat,  but  cut  only  a  small  piece  of  the  flesh,  which  a  surgeon 
sewed  up  again.  He  was  sold,  and  has  now  a  master. 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  That  is  another  case.' 

"  Mr.  Black  said  it  was  the  identical  case,  and  the  gentleman  had  imposed  upon 
the  House  in  relation  to  it.  That  negro  was  a  fellow  of  the  worst  character;  he 
had  frequently  run  away  from  his  master,  stole  every  thing  he  could  lay  his  hands 
upon,  and  was  wholly  unmanageable.  That  was  a  specimen  of  the  negroes  for 
whom  the  sympathies  of  the  member  from  Ohio  were  excited,  and  whom  he  se 
lected  as  examples  of  the  horrors  of  slavery.  Why,  did  the  member  from  Ohio 
not  recollect  that  he  had  been  charged  with  going  upon  the  common  here,  and 
putting  in  a  claim  to  a  wagon  that  was  used  for  stealing  negroes — which  had 
been  used  clandestinely  for  that  purpose  ?  The  man  whose  wagon  it  was,  was 
named  Torrey,  a  worthy  associate,  and  co-mate,  and  co-laborer  of  the  member 
from  Ohio — a  man  who  was  now  in  the  Maryland  penitentiary.  If  he  were  per 
mitted  by  the  rules  of  the  House,  he  would  say  that  the  member  from  Ohio  ought 
to  be  along  with  him.  [Laughter.]  He  knew,  if  such  a  thing  could  be  put  to 
the  vote  of  this  House,  that  he  would  be  keeping  company  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tor 
rey.  But  the  member  from  Ohio  talked  about  his  character !  Now  he  asked  th;it 
member  if  he  had  not  folded  up  a  calico  frock,  and  sent  it  under  frank  through 
the  post-office  as  a  public  document.  The  member  from  Ohio  talked  of  '  gar 
ments  dyed  with  blood,'  and  that  had  reminded  him  (Mr.  Black)  of  this  calico 
garment.  And  how  was  that  dyed  ?  It  had  the  dye  of  fraud  upon  this  govern 
ment  upon  it,  and  the  member  from  Ohio,  after  that,  should  not  come  here  and  talk 
about  morality. 


JOSHUA  REED  GIDDINGS.  291 

"  The  honorable  gentleman  made  some  further  remarks,  in  which  he  told  the 
member  from  Ohio  to  go  home  to  his  people  to  ascertain  if  he  had  any  character 
there ;  for,  before  God  and  the  country,  he  (Mr.  Black)  declared  that  he  had  none 
here. 

"  Mr.  McDowell  inquired  if  all  this  was  in  order. 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  Oh,  it  is  very  interesting  indeed.' 

"  Mr.  Burt  entreated  his  friend  from  Georgia  not  to  push  this  matter  further. 

"  Mr.  Black  resumed.  He  had  no  more  to  say  on  that  point.  He  regretted,  as 
much  as  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  could  do,  that  he  had  been  led  to  re 
fer  to  the  member  from  Ohio.  Since  1839,  year  after  year  had  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  indulged  in  slander  on  the  people  he  {Mr.  Black)  represented,  and  had  said 
that  they  were  slave-dealers,  and  men  who  had  no  regard  for  morality  or  human 
ity.  Day  after  day  did  Southern  men  sit  there,  and  cower  under  the  assaults — 
the  mendacious  assaults  of  Northern  members.  He  spoke  not  of  the  member  from 
Ohio  alone,  but  of  members  who  presented  abolition  petitions  on  this  floor,  which, 
if  they  were  carried  to  Georgia  or  South  Carolina,  and  read  to  meetings  there,  it 
would  be  worth  the  life  of  the  man  who  dared  to  slander  thus  the  people  there. 
When  such  assaults  were  committed,  should  he  sit  silently  and  take  what  his 
people  would  not  take  ?  Civility  to  these  people  was  but '  throwing  pearls  be 
fore  swine ;'  the  only  way  was  to  pay  them  back  in  their  own  coin.  He  remem 
bered,  in  1839,  the  member  had  charged  the  whole  people  of  Georgia  with  hav 
ing  instigated  the  Florida  war  by  a  theft  on  the  Florida  Indians.  He  (Mr.  Black) 
had  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  at  that  time,  amid  a  storm  of  order,  to  vindicate  his 
people,  and  give  the  lie  direct  to  the  gentleman  from  Ohio.  His  people  at  home 
would  have  done  it,  and  would  have  even  gone  further — to  the  extent,  as  he  had 
then  told  the  member,  of  inflicting  the  Lynch  law  upon  him.  There  was  not  a 
member  from  the  South  or  Southwest  on  this  floor,  who,  if  the  member  from  Ohio 
were  to  walk  up  to  him  on  the  avenue,  and  read  him  a  paper  as  personal  as  nine 
tenths  of  the  abolition  petitions  presented  here,  would  not  knock  him  down  in 
his  tracks;  and  he  (Mr.  Black)  would  not  surrender  his  natural  rights  here  by  re 
fraining  to  repel  such  slanders  upon  the  honor  of  his  constituents. 

"  The  gentleman  had  objected  to  the  bill,  and  contended  that  a  portion  of  the 
money  due  should  be  detained  from  the  Indians  for  the  slaves  that  they  had  stolen 
away.  Thus  (Mr.  Black  argued)  the  gentleman  himself  would  encourage  the  In 
dians  in  these  thefts.  It  was  such  a  case  as  was  made  out  for  Rev.  Mr.  Fairbanks 
and  Miss  Delia  Webster  in  Kentucky ;  on  which  case  Mr.  Black  commented. 
This  Delia  Webster,  Mr.  Torrey,  Mr.  Walker,  and  others,  were  in  the  penitentia 
ry;  and  when  the  member  from  Ohio  was  returned  to  the  twenty-ninth  Con 
gress,  no  doubt  that  the  young  members  would  be  regaled  by  many  sad  and  dole 
ful  jeremiads  upon  the  fate  of  these  martyrs  to  the  cause  of  human  liberty !  The 
gentleman's  character,  and  the  staleness  of  these  charges,  should  be  exposed  to 
them. 

"Mr.  Black  having  concluded, 

"  On  motion  of  Mr.  Hopkins,  after  several  points  of  order,  the  committee  rose 
and  reported  progress. 

"  On  motion  of  Mr.  M'Kay,  a  resolation  was  adopted  to  terminate  all  debate  in 
committee  on  this  bill  in  twenty  minutes  after  it  should  again  be  taken  up  in  Com 
mittee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union. 

"  Mr.  M'Kay  moved  that  the  House  again  resolve  itself  into  Committee  of  the 
Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union. 

"  Mr.  C.  Smith  moved  that  the  House  adjourn. 

"  The  yeas  and  nays  were  asked  and  ordered,  and,  being  taken,  resulted,  yeas 
73,  nays  89. 


292  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  On  motion  of  Mr.  M'Kay,  the  House  again  resolved  itself  into  Committee  of 
the  Whole. on  the  State  of  the  Union,  Mr.  Vinton  in  the  chair,  and  resumed  the 
consideration  of  the  above  bill. 

"  Mr.  M'Kay  explained  that  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Giddings)  was  under 
very  great  misapprehension  concerning  this  bill.  The  item  from  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  purchase  of  negroes,  and  '  for  important  services  rendered,' 
did  not  come  into  the  ordinary  appropriation  bills.  In  February,  1841,  Congress, 
at  the  instance  of  Northern  gentlemen — he  believed  a  distinguished  gentleman 
from  Vermont — appropriated  $100,000  for  the  removal,  subsistence,  and  benefit 
of  such  Seminole  Indians  as  should  surrender  for  emigration.  The  construction 
put  upon  that  act,  in  March,  1841,  under  the  administration  of  Gen.  Harrison,  ad 
mitted  a  very  broad  discretion  in  regard  to  it.  Mr.  Bell,  Secretary  of  War,  a  few- 
days  after,  issued  instructions  to  Col.  Worth,  commanding  officer  in  Florida,  in 
regard  to  these  negroes,  who  had  run  away  from  their  masters  in  Florida,  that 
they  might  pay  their  owners  for  them.  There  were  a  number  of  these  slaves  (say 
about  nine)  that  had  ran  away  from  their  masters,  and  went  to  the  Seminoles. 
They,  the  Seminoles,  refused  to  come  in,  and  enter  into  the  treaty,  unless  a  stip 
ulation  was  entered  into  by  General  Worth  that  these  slaves  should  accompany 
them  when  they  were  removed. 

"  Mr.  Giddiugs  said  he  was  satisfied  with  the  gentleman's  explanation.  In  the 
ordinary  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  representative  on  that  floor,  he  assured  the 
committee  that  while  he  did  not  claim  to  be  above  any  member  there,  he  did  not 
admit  himself  to  be  inferior  to  any  one.  His  people  were  an  independent  people, 
and  their  representative  was  as  much  entitled  to  respect  as  any  other  member  on 
this  floor. 

"  So  far  as  regarded  character  and  standing,  he  would  say  that  it  was  for  his 
constituents  to  judge  if  he  was  worthy  to  represent  them.  If  they  should  thrust 
him  aside  as  unworthy  to  represent  them,  he  would  have  nothing  more  to  say. 
If  his  course  on  that  floor  had  been  such  as  to  meet  the  condemnation  of  his  con 
stituents,  and  to  cause  them  to  thrust  him  aside,  he  should  hide  his  head  with 
shame.  The  gentleman  from  Georgia  would  make  his  own  application  of  this  re 
mark.  Coming  here,  condemned  as  he  was  by  the  people  he  represented,  saying 
that  he  was  unworthy  to  represent  them  any  longer,  and  then  to  talk  about  char 
acter  !  The  gentleman  talked  about  knocking  him  down.  Did  he  think  the  peo 
ple  he  represented  would  send  a  coward  here  ?  One  gentleman  had  once  drawn 
a  Bowie  knife  on  him,  and  others  had  used  menacing  and  insulting  language  to 
ward  him.  Did  gentlemen  think  to  brave  the  freemen  of  the  North  because  they 
were  modest  and  unassuming,  and  disapprove  of  fighting  duels  ?  Did  the  gentle 
man  talk  about  knocking  him  down,  because  he  dared  to  do  his  duty  on  that 
floor?  [Here  Mr.  Black,  who  was  in  the  aisle  immediately  behind  Mr.  Giddings, 
made  some  remark  about  knocking  down,  which  the  reporter  did  not  hear.] 
Mr.  Giddings  continued.  He  had  never  seen  an  infernal  coward  that  did  not  talk 
loud— 

"  [Mr.  Black  was  here  observed  rushing  into  the  bar  toward  Mr.  Giddings, 
with  a  cane  upraised,  but  was  seized  and  withheld  from  entering  the  bar  by  Mr. 
Hammet  and  other  Southern  gentlemen.     There  was  much  noise  and  confusion 
at  this  time,  with  frequent  calls  to  order.     When  the  uproar  subsided], 
"  Mr.  Seymour  moved  that  the  committee  rise. 

"The  chair  said  that  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Giddings)  was  entitled  to 
the  floor. 

"  Mr.  M'Kay  hoped  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  would  not  indulge  in  any  more 
personal  allusions. 

"Mr.  Giddings  continued.    As  regarded  the  anecdote  he  told  the  other  day 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  293 

of  the  slave  who  drowned  herself  in  the  canal,  he  had  it  from  the  best  authority — 
one  of  the  purest  and  best  of  men,  whose  word,  was  universally  believed.  As  re 
garded  the  franking  story,  he  declared,  before  God,  that  the  infamous  falsehood, 
originated  in  this  hall,  and  was  repeated  here.  It  never  was  heard  of  before  it 
was  repeated  on  that  floor.  As  regarded  the  wagon  story,  he  contradicted  that 
infamous  falsehood  last  year,  when  it  was  put  forth  in  that  House.  He  challeng 
ed  all  creation  to  show  that  he  ever  had  any  knowledge  of  that  falsehood  till  he 
was  charged  with  it  by  a  gentleman  on  that  floor. 

"  He  had  no  more  to  say  in  reply  to  the  assaults  of  the  gentleman  from  Geor 
gia.  They  were  worthy  of  the  source  from  whence  they  came.  It  was  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  legislation,  when  assaults  such  as  this  were  permitted  on  that 
floor.  He  blushed,  and  felt  humbled  for  his  country  and  the  character  of  her 'states 
men,  when  such  scenes  were  permitted  to  occur.  Did  any  man  pretend  to  say 
that  the  facts  he  had  stated,  and  every  word  he  had  put  forth,  was  not  dictated  by 
sincerity  of  heart,  and  could  not  be  proved  by  the  records  of  the  government  ? 
When  he  saw  the  manner  in  which  the  money  drawn  from  the  pockets  of  his  con 
stituents  was  expended,  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  speak  out,  and  expose  it  to  the 
indignation  of  the  world. 

"  Mr.  Levy  obtained  the  floor,  but  yielded  it  to 

"  Mr.  Black,  who  said  he  regretted  very  much  that  the  slang  and  obloquy  that 
fell  on  his  ears  from  the  member  from  Ohio,  not  long  ago,  should  so  far  have  op 
erated  on  him  as  to  have  put  his  feelings  beyond  his  own  control.  He  would  only 
now  say,  that  whenever  a  gentleman  should  think  proper  to  use  such  language  in 
reference  to  him,  he  should  be  found  to  conduct  himself  in  a  manner  that  would 
redound  to  his  own  credit,  and  meet  the  approbation  of  his  constituents.  Those 
who  heard  him  could  understand  him,  and  those  who  did  not  appreciate  his  mo 
tives  could  try  him." 

Let  us  take  some  further  examples.  Many  of  our  readers 
are  aware  that  much  excitement  prevailed  lately  in  the  City  of 
Washington,  in  consequence  of  an  attempt  made  to  convey  out 
of  the  district,  in  the  schooner  "  Pearl,"  some  seventy  slaves, 
men,  women,  and  children.  The  subject  became  matter  of  dis 
cussion  in  both  houses.  On  the  20th  of  April,  the  following  de 
bate  is  reported  in  the  Congressional  Globe : 

"  Mr.  Venable  obtained  the  floor.  It  was  with  extreme  and  deep  reluctance, 
he  said,  that  he  felt  himself  compelled  to  approach  the  discussion  of  the  question 
which  had  been  thrown  before  them  to-day.  He  had  taken  his  seat,  at  the  open 
ing  of  this  session,  cherishing  the  fondest  hopes  that  the  mere  party  questions  and 
policies  which  divided  us  as  Whigs  and  Democrats  would  be  the  subjects  which 
would  come  before  them ;  that  they  might  meet,  quietly  meet,  on  the  same  plat 
form,  as  citizens  of  the  country  they  all  dearly  loved,  and  protected  by  the  aegis 
of  the  Constitution  they  all  venerated.  He  had  come  here  with  these  fond  hopes, 
but  he  had  been  here  but  a  few  days  before  he  felt  that  those  hopes  were  to  be 
blighted ;  he  saw,  amid  the  forbearance  of  the  South,  that  spirit  of  fanaticism 
which  would  walk  with  lighted  torch  in  a  magazine ;  he  saw  that  fanaticism  which 
would  authorize  men  to  right  what  they  considered  a  wrong,  without  ever  think 
ing  of  the  wrong  they  would  inflict;  that  spirit  of  fanaticism  which  would  never 
stop  short  of  heaven  or  hell ;  which  knew  no  middle  ground,  and  which,  when 
once  fastened  on  a  man's  heart,  led  him  to  trample  on  all  that  was  sacred  and  holy. 
He  saw  that  hope  blighted ;  that  no  subject  could  be  introduced  into  this  House 


294  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

— even  a  resolution  of  congratulation  of  a  people  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  a  tyrant, 
and  establishing  freedom  for  themselves — without  having  this  firebrand  thrown 
into  this  House.  He  saw  the  South  persecuted,  taunted,  harassed,  held  up  to 
odium  to  the  world — continually  held  up — until  he  had  received  from  his  own 
district  and  section  of  country  urgent  appeals.  Were  they  to  be  made  odious 
— were  their  institutions  continually  to  be  dragged  before  the  public  by  the  fa 
natic  and  hypocrite,  to  taunt  and  sneer  at,  and  were  their  dearest  rights  to  be 
abandoned  by  those  who  represented  them  ?  Was  there  no  man  from  the  South 
who  would  stand  up  and  say  to  them  what  should  be  said  ?  Yes ;  in  his  humble 
way,  he  would  vindicate  the  rights  and  maintain  the  cause  of  those  who  had  sent 
him  here ;  and  he  would  never  fail  to  rebuke  fanaticism  and  denounce  hypocrisy 
in  the  man,  and  in  those  who  acted  with  him,  who  said  he  wanted  to  keep  the 
knife  of  the  slave  near  his  master's  throat ;  and  that  when  the  slave  fled  to  Ohio 
and  there  slew  his  master  in  attempting  to  reclaim  him,  he  would  call  him  a  clever 
fellow ;  and  that  there  was  no  law  there  to  punish  him.  It  was  a  libel  upon  the 
institutions  of  that  state.  He  had  examined  the  laws  of  Ohio,  and  he  found  that 
if  a  man  did  a  lawful  act,  and  another  killed  him  when  engaged  in  it,  they  called 
him  a  murderer.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  provided  for  the  reclaim 
ing  of  fugitive  slaves,  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  had  decided 
that  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  so  far  executed  itself  as  that  the  master  or  his 
agent  had  the  right  to  pursue  his  slave  and  retake  him.  If,  then,  the  slave  killed 
him,  he  killed  him  doing  a  lawful  act. 

"  When  he  heard  such  declarations  made  on  this  floor  by  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  (Mr.  Giddings) ;  when  their  slaves  were  invited  to  run  away,  and  were  told, 
if  you  kill  your  master  in  attempting  to  retake  you,  you  are  clever  fellows ;  when 
the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Palfrey)  declared  that  there  were  thou 
sands  of  slaves  in  New  Bedford  who  had  paid  for  themselves  by  their  heels ;  and 
when,  in  the  face  of  these  declarations,  a  ship  from  a  Northern  state  came  to  this 
district  and  took  off  a  ship-load  of  slaves,  to  pay  for  themselves  by  their  heels  also, 
it  was  time  to  meet  this  matter  as  became  a  representative  from  the  South.  He 
loved  the  Union.  It  had  cost  him  and  his  much.  There  was  not  a  battle-field, 
from  Saratoga  to  Camden,  but  had  drank  the  life-blood  of  some  of  his  family  and 
relatives ;  but,  love  it  as  he  did,  he  hailed  dissolution  with  pleasure  and  joy,  if 
they  were  continually  to  be  taunted  by  fanatics  and  hypocrites — if  their  wives 
and  little  ones  were  to  be  assassinated  and  destroyed  by  intermeddling  men  with 
hearts  black  as  hell.  This  was  the  feeling  of  his  heart.  He  could  say  nothing 
less.  The  South  asked  no  favors;  and  if  gentlemen  supposed  that  because  they 
had  said  nothing  until  driven  to  it  by  their  unhallowed  machinations  and  intrigues, 
that  they  were  afraid  to  investigate  the  question,  they  had  mistaken  the  South  al 
together. 

"  He  felt,  and  he  would  here  express,  most  profound  obligations  to  his  Northern 
and  Western  Democratic  friends,  who  had  stood  by  them  in  defense  of  the  rights 
of  the  South  to  the  number  of  twenty-five  or  thirty,  in  a  vote  which  had  recently 
been  taken ;  while,  on  the  other  side,  not  a  Northern  or  Western  man  had  stood 
by  Southern  rights.  He  classified  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North  in  two  divisions: 
one,  a  set  of  fanatics,  who,  though  possessing  no  genuine  social  feelings,  were  hon 
est  men ;  and  the  other,  men  who  made  use  of  them  to  secure  seats  in  Congress, 
and  power  and  elevation  for  themselves,  who  stirred  up  the  strife — vile  hypocrites, 
who  went  around  to  the  factories  and  Sunday-schools,  getting  children  and  wom 
en  to  sign  petitions  on  matters  with  which  they  had  no  concern,  to  bring  them  to 
Congress.  Such  miserable  subterfuges,  such  vile  and  wicked  resorts,  disgraced 
humanity. 

"  He  denied  that  slavery  was  either  a  moral,  social,  or  political  evil.     They  had 


JOSHUA  REED  GIDDINGS.  295 

nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  was  a  matter  which  belonged  to  the  South.  He  asked 
gentlemen  if  the  agonizing,  heart-rending  cry  of  the  slave  in  the  middle  passage, 
kidnapped  from  Africa,  had  ever  arisen  from  ships  from  North  Carolina?  No; 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  could  tell  us  about  it.  It  had  rung  from  their 
vessels,  and  that  inhuman  traffic  had  been  a  source  of  their  wealth ;  almost  ev 
ery  thing  in  the  town  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  htetd  been  made  out  of  it ;  and 
Rhode  Island  had  been  represented  in  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol  by  one  of  these 
slave-dealers,  for  it  had  so  been  charged  upon  that  floor.  The  North  had  brought 
this  institution  upon  them.  The  descendants  of  those  who  landed  at  Plymouth, 
and  of  Roger  Williams,  had  sold  them  their  slaves  and  pocketed  the  money 
And  now  they  were  enlisted  in  a  crusade  against  their  property ;  and  they  had 
recently  undertaken  to  kidnap  and  decoy  away  seventy-five  in  one  vessel  from 
this  district ;  and  gentlemen  came  here,  and  with  long  faces  complained  that  the 
people  of  this  city  had  risen  to  defend  their  rights !  Mr.  Venable  had  heard  of  a 
member  of  Congress  who  had  gone  yesterday  to  the  jail  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
counsel  to  these  felons,  who  were  caught  flagrante  delicto !  He  had  heard  that  a 
member  of  this  House  had  volunteered  his  services,  had  gone  to  the  jail  for  the 
purpose  of  throwing  the  weight  of  his  character,  and  influence,  and  talents  in  de 
fense  of  men  who  had  plundered  the  owners  in  the  district  of  their  slaves,  and  were 
caught  with  the  negroes  in  their  possession. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  asked  to  be  permitted  to  explain,  and,  the  floor  being  yielded, 
said,  if  the  gentleman  alluded  to  him,  he  would  say  unhesitatingly,  it  was  due  to 
the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  that  he  should  say  to  him,  and  the  House,  and 
the  country,  most  distinctly,  that  he  did  visit  the  prison  yesterday.  He  did  so  in 
the  character  of  a  man,  as  well  as  a  member  of  this  House ;  he  said  to  the  keep 
er  of  the  prison,  who,  so  far  as  he  knew,  behaved  entirely  gentlemanly,  that  he 
came  there  to  say  to  those  men  who  were  incarcerated  under  this  charge  that  they 
should  have  counsel  provided  for  them.  The  keeper  of  the  prison  heard  every 
word  he  uttered :  that  he  had  brought  with  him  a  gentleman  who  would  serve 
as  their  counsel ;  that  he  did  it  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  their  legal  rights,  so 
that  upon  their  trial  they  might  have  the  laws  of  the  land  dealt  out  to  them  as 
they  were  to  other  people ;  that  he  was  persuaded  no  illegal  violence  would  be 
used.  For  that  purpose,  and  from  his  own  promptings  of  humanity,  he  had  vis 
ited  them  to  give  them  this  information.  Now,  let  gentlemen  say  what  they 
pleased. 

"  Mr.  Gayle.  '  Was  the  gentleman's  object  to  reward  these  men  and  approve 
their  course  ?  Or  was  it  mere  benevolence  to  defend  men  who  could  not  defend 
themselves  ?' 

"  Mr.  Giddings  was  glad  the  gentleman  from  Alabama  had  put  to  him  that 
question.  He  had  gone  there  to  say  to  those  men  that  no  mob  violence  should 
take  their  lives ;  that  his  influence,  and  the  aid  of  counsel,  and  the  law,  should 
save  them  from  a  barbarous  mob.  He  had  gone  there  from  the  promptings  of 
humanity ;  he  had  never  seen  or  heard  of  them,  or  known  any  thing  of  them 
before. 

"  Mr.  Gayle.  '  Did  not  the  gentleman  go  there  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging 
these  people  ?' 

"Mr.  Johnson,  of  Arkansas,  rose  simultaneously  with  Mr.  Gayle,  and  desired  to 
ask  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  one  question. 

"Mr.  Giddings  expressed  a  willingness  to  answer  questions  which  might  be 
propounded. 

"  Mr.  Venable,  however,  resumed  the  floor,  as  his  time  was  so  rapidly  running 
away.  He  would  ask  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  why  it  was  so  necessary  to  go  to 
these  men  in  jail,  and  assure  them  they  should  be  safe  from  the  mob  ?  Did  not 


296  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

every  man  know  that  they  were  in  no  danger  when  safely  lodged  there?  It  was 
a  work  of  supererogation.  The  gentleman  was  careful  to  visit  those  who  had 
been  caught  in  stealing  and  carrying  away  slaves;  had  he  gone  to  see  the  poor 
burglar,  the  felon  who  was  confined  in  jail  for  other  crimes?  No !  The  sympa 
thies  of  his  heart  were  drawn  out  to  nothing  there  but  these  seventy-five  negroes, 
and  the  men  who  had  stolen  them. 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  Does  the  gentleman  want  me  to  answer  that  question?' 
"  Mr.  Venable  declined  to  give  way,  and,  after  further  remarks,  moved  an 
amendment  to  the  resolution  to  make  the  committee  consist  of  nine  members  in 
stead  of  five,  and  that  they  be  elected  by  ballot  instead  of  being  appointed  by  the 
speaker. 

"  Mr.  Haskell  (the  floor  being  yielded)  desired  to  ask  the  gentleman  from  Ohio 
two  questions,  and  that  the  gentleman  would  give  him,  as  far  as  he  should  find  it 
convenient,  a  categorical  answer :  the  first  was,  whether  he  justified  those  slaves 
who  had  lately  made  an  attempt  to  escape  from  their  owners  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  in  that  attempt  ? 

"  Mr.  Giddings  (addressing  the  speaker).  '  Have  I  the  floor  to  reply?' 
"  The  Speaker.  '  Does  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  yield  the  floor  to  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio?' 
"  Mr.  Venable  assented. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said,  to  the  question  which  had  been  put  to  him,  whether  he 
justified  the  slaves  who  had  left  their  masters  in  the  District  of  Columbia  in  pur 
suit  of  their  liberty,  he  could  have  no  hesitation  in  answering  before  an  assembled 
universe.  He  held,  as  did  our  fathers  in  1776,  that  all  men  were  born  equal,  and 
that  to  protect  their  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  govern 
ments  were  framed  among  men.  Now,  believing  that  mankind,  as  they  came 
from  God,  were  equal,  he  had  ever  been  taught  by  his  fathers — and  here  he 
•would  say  to  the  gentleman  from  North  Carloiua  (Mr.  Venable)  that  he  (Mr.  Gid 
dings)  boasted  not  that  his  fathers  fought  for  liberty.  Why  did  not  the  gentleman 
himself  fight  for  it?  Before  he  assailed  him  (Mr.  Giddings),  let  him  put  himself 
rectus  in  curia — 

"  Mr.  Houston,  of  Delaware,  rose  to  a  point  of  order. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  begged  not  to  be  interrupted  until  he  had  finished  the  answer 
to  the  gentleman's  question. 

"  The  Speaker.  '  The  gentleman  from  Ohio  will  give  way ;  the  gentleman  from 
Delaware  rises  to  a  point  of  order.' 

"  Mr.  Houston  stated  his  point  to  be,  whether,  upon  a  preamble  and  resolution 
stating  that  a  member  of  this  House  had  been  menaced  by  persons  out  of  this 
House  for  his  participation,  or  alleged  participation,  in  certain  civil  and  criminal 
transactions,  it  was  competent  for  his  friend  from  Tennessee  to  put  the  question 
to  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  whether  he  justified  this  act? 
"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  take  no  exception  to  the  question.' 

"  The  speaker  replied  to  Mr.  Houston  that  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  was  not 
obliged  to  answer  any  question,  but  that,  in  the  wide  range  allowed  to  the  debate, 
it  was  certainly  competent  for  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  to  put  the  question, 
and  for  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  to  answer  it,  if  he  pleased. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  (resuming)  remarked,  that  he  saw  gentlemen  from  the  South 
were  excited  on  the  subject,  and  he  might  become  excited.  But  it  was  a  beau 
tiful  question,  and,  if  the  dough-faces  would  only  not  interfere,  they  would  have 
a  fine  fight. 

"  He  was  stating  his  views  (he  continued)  on  the  rights  of  humanity,  and  he 
said  to  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  that  he  held  precisely  with  the  fathers  of 
1776,  to  whom  he  had  alluded.  He  held  to  the  principle  for  which  the  gentle 
man's  fathers  and  his  contended  at  Bunker  Hill  and  Yorktown ;  he  held  to  the 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  297 

principle  on  which  this  government  was  based  for  its  support,  that  man  was  free 
and  equal,  and  that  he  who  attempted  to  interfere  between  his  God  and  himself, 
to  interfere  with  his  God-given  rights,  did  it  at  his  peril.  He  held  that  he  who 
stepped  between  him  and  his  God,  and  attempted  either  to  rob  him  of  his  life  or 
liberty,  did  it  at  his  peril ;  and,  so  far  as  God  and  nature  had  bestowed  on  him 
the  power,  he  should  not  do  it.  He  held  that  every  human  being  who  came  into 
the  world  and  breathed  the  air  God  had  created,  came  into  it  with  this  right,  and 
he  who  attempted  to  interfere  with  it  did  so  at  his  peril.  He  held  that  there 
never  was  a  more  just  and  righteous  retribution  than  was  inflicted  upon  the  Afri 
cans  in  1804,  when  Decatur  and  Somers  went  there,  and  when  these  men  who 
enslaved  their  fellow-men  were  themselves  made  to  bite  the  dust.  There  never 
was  a  more  glorious  cause  to  fight  for,  nor  would  he  ask  for  a  more  glorious 
death  than  to  die  in  just  such  a  cause.  He  held  that  it  was  right ;  and  he  held 
that  any  man,  when  he  enslaved  his  fellow-man — when  the  hand  of  power  was 
brought  to  bear  on  his  God-given  rights — his  'inalienable  rights'  (to  use  the  words 
of  our  fathers),  had  the  right  to  defend  that  liberty,  and,  to  come  down  to  the 
gentleman's  specific  question — 

"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  you  reach  it.' 

"  Mr.  Giddings  (continuing  his  sentence).  '  I  say  that  the  slaves  of  this  district, 
when  they  felt  the  hand  of  oppression  bearing  on  them,  possessed,  before  the  uni 
versal  world  and  before  God  himself,  the  right  to  free  themselves  by  any  means 
God  has  put  into  the  power — ' 

"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  The  gentleman  has  answered  that  question.     I  am  satisfied.' 
"  Mr.  Giddings  (retaining  the  floor).  '  I  am  not.     I  want  to  finish  my  answer.' 
"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  Inasmuch  as  the  gentleman  has  justified  this  attempt  of  these 
slaves  to  escape  from  their  rightful  owners,  I  call  on  him  to  know  whether  he 
justifies  the  thieves  who  stole  them?' 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  do  not  know  that  there  were  any  thieves.' 
"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  The  men,  then — the  individuals — the  parties  who  were  engaged 
in  this  kidnapping?' 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  say,  unhesitatingly,  where  laws  are  in  force,  where  legal 
constitutional  laws  of  the  land  enforce  penalties  on  such  actions,  they  are  to  be 
obeyed.  I  am  not  permitted  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  the  people  of  this  dis 
trict,  because  I  owe  allegiance  to  my  government,  and  he  who  interferes  does  it 
at  his  peril.  There  can  be  no  difference  between  the  gentleman  and  myself  on 
that  subject.' 

"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  Then  do  I  understand  the  gentleman  to  justify  these  men?' 
"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  say  that  those  who  did  it,  did  it  at  their  peril.' 
"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  Does  the  gentleman  condemn  these  individuals?' 
"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  say,  unquestionably,  if  they  did  it,  they  violated  the  law.' 
"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  Does  the  gentleman  consider  it  a  violation  of  law  ?' 
"  Mr  Giddings.  '  Unquestionably,  if  they  aided  slaves  in  escaping.     I  am  not 
very  conversant  with  the  laws  of  this  district,  though  I  have  had  occasion  to  look 
into  them  some  :  I  understand  it  is  a  penal  act  in  this  district.     Now  it  is  wrong 
to  violate  this  law,  because,  in  entering  society,  we  bind  ourselves  to  keep  the 
laws  which  are  constitutionally  enacted.     There  is  a  legal  crime — ' 
"  Mr.  Haskell.  '  Was  there  any  moral  crime  ?' 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  do  not  believe  there  is  the  least  moral  crime  on  earth  in 
maintaining  the  rights  God  has  given  me.' 

"  Mr.  Venable  interfered,  and  claimed  the  floor. 

"  The  speaker  stated  that  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  was  entitled  to 
the  floor. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  declined  to  yield,  as  the  floor  had  been  given  to  him  for  ex 
planation,  until  he  had  concluded, 


298  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  The  speaker  reminded  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  that  the  floor  was  only  given 
him  by  consent  of  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina,  who  now  claimed  his 
right  to  it. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  yielded. 

"  Mr.  Venable  resumed,  sending  to  the  clerk's  table  the  following  amendment, 
which  he  had  before  indicated,  but  embracing  now,  as  a  modification,  the  amend 
ment  suggested  by  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Haskell),  which  was  read, 
as  follows: 

"  '  Strike  out  the  word  "  five,"  in  the  resolution,  and  insert  "  nine ;"  and  insert 
after  the  word  "appointed,"  the  words  "by  ballot;"  also,  insert  after  the  words 
"referred  to,"  the  following,  viz. :  "  and  that  said  committee  be  instructed  to  in 
quire  into,  and  report  to  this  House,  whether  any  member  or  members  of  this 
House  were  instrumental  in  procuring  the  slaves  who  were  recently  decoyed  from 
their  owners  in  this  district,  to  leave  their  owners ;  and  whether  the  said  mem 
bers  of  this  House  have  not  been  guilty  of  felony  in  attempting,  or  aiding  in  an 
attempt,  to  kidnap  slaves."  * 

And  again,  on  the  21st  of  April,  Mr.  Bayly  said, 

"  There  were  some  remarks  which  fell  from  the  member  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Gid 
dings)  on  a  preceding  day,  to  which  his  attention  had  been  called  by  a  gentleman 
near  him,  of  a  most  murderous  and  incendiary  character,  proving  that  he  looked 
to  emancipation  by  force.  In  arguing  against  the  extension  of  slave  territory,  he 
said  he  wished  to  keep  the  negroes  with  their  masters,  holding  their  knives  as 
near  their  throats  as  possible.  To  such  remarks  he  (Mr.  Bayly)  did  not  mean  to 
reply.  He  addressed  himself  to  the  sober,  serious  reason  of  the  North,  and  he 
wished  not  to  excite  their  passions.  He  wished  to  show  them  that  this  abolition 
excitement  had  an  origin  hostile  to  them  as  well  as  the  South,  and  that  nothing 
but  mischief — unqualified  mischief  to  the  whole  country,  would  result  from  it. 

"Mr.  Giddings  rose  and  inquired  if  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  alluded  to 
him  when  he  said  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  wished  to  keep  the  negroes  and  their 
masters  together,  that  the  negroes  might  have  their  knives  as  near  their  master's 
throats  as  possible. 

"  Mr.  Bayly  replied  that  he  did  allude  to  the  member  from  Ohio,  for  such  he 
understood  to  be  the  character  of  that  member's  remarks. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  replied  that  the  gentleman  had  entirely  misunderstood  him. 

"  Mr.  Bayly  said  other  gentlemen  understood  him  as  he  did. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said  he  cared  not  who  made  the  assertion ;  he  had  used  no  such 
language.  He  well  knew  what  he  had  said. 

"  Mr.  Bayly  said  a  gentleman  sitting  near  him  understood  the  language  as  he 
did ;  but,  whether  the  member  from  Ohio  used  those  precise  expressions  or  not, 
of  this  he  (Mr.  Bayly)  was  certain,  and  he  would  stake  his  assertion  on  the  decision 
of  the  House,  that  he  had  over  and  over  again  used  expressions  of  similar  import. 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  Of  what  import  ?' 

"  Mr.  Bayly.  '  The  member  from  Ohio  had  used  language  in  his  speeches,  the 
inevitable  tendency  of  which  was,  if  it  were  not  his  design,  to  lead  to  insurrection.' 

"  The  speaker  called  the  gentleman  to  order. 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  I  wish  the  gentleman  might  be  permitted  to  proceed.  I  like 
to  hear  him.' 

"  Mr.  Bayly  had  no  doubt  of  it.  The  member  is  fond  of  the  notoriety  which 
the  denunciations  of  him  here  give  him.  He  hopes  to  recommend  himself  to  his 
constituents  by  assuming  to  be  the  special  object  of  attack  by  Southern  represent 
atives,  and  thereby  strengthen  the  tenure  by  which  he  holds  his  seat  here,  with  itg 
eight  dollars  a  day ;  and  hence  he  is  eternally  trying  to  provoke  us  into  denunci 
ation  of  his  detestable  course  and  sentiments. 


JOSHUA  REED   GIDDINGS.  299 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  '  The  gentleman  is  mistaken.' 

"Mr.  Bayly.  '  He  was  one  of  those  men  who  was  willing  to  obtain  profits  by 
provoking  abuse  of  themselves ;  to  make  a  traffic  of  his  character  and  feelings.' 

"  The  speaker  again  interposed,  and  called  the  gentleman  to  order. 

"  Mr.  Bayly  said,  if  he  were  out  of  order,  it  was  the  remarks  of  the  member  from 
Ohio  which  had  provoked  him  to  it.  For  personal  abuse  he  had  no  taste,  but  he 
chose  to  speak  in  appropriate  terms  of  the  course  of  a  member  here,  winch  so  in 
timately  affected  the  dearest  interests  of  himself  and  his  constituents.  He  repre 
sented  a  frontier  district,  penetrated  in  every  part  of  it  by  rivers  and  harbors,  into 
which  the  vessels  from  the  non-slaveholding  states  and  the  piratical  schooners  of 
the  Abolition  Society  could  come.  His  constituents'  interests  were,  therefore,  at 
stake,  and  he  should  ever  be  ready  to  expose  and  resist  the  unhallowed  designs 
of  men  trying  to  destroy  them ;  and,  in  speaking  of  the  character  of  the  men  them 
selves,  he  should  not  stop  to  measure  his  words.  He  regretted  the  necessity  of 
making  any  reference  to  the  member  whatever ;  and,  unless  under  the  strongest 
necessity  of  doing  it,  he  should  not  hereafter,  as  he  had  not  heretofore." 

The  following  is  the  reply  of  Mr.  Giddings  to  remarks  reflect 
ing  upon  himself  in  connection  with  the  same  affair.  We  take 
the  current  report,  which  is  understood  to  be  generally  correct, 
though  not  so  full  as  the  revised  speech  which  will  hereafter 
appear  on  the  record : 

"  Mr.  Giddings,  having  obtained  the  floor,  said  that,  whatever  remarks  he  might 
make  on  this  occasion,  it  was  no  part  of  his  intention  to  reply  to  what  had  been 
said  by  the  gentleman  who  had  just  taken  his  seat.  Before  he  commenced  any 
regular  series  of  remarks,  he  wished  to  take  occasion  to  say  further,  that  he  had 
supposed  that,  after  a  ten  years'  service  in  this  hall — after  so  many  times  expressing 
the  sentiments  which  he  had  so  long  held,  and  which  he  thought  were  so  well  un 
derstood  by  the  members  of  this  House,  he  could  not  have  been  made  to  believe 
that  gentlemen,  either  from  the  North  or  South,  could  have  so  misapprehended  his 
sentiments  until  he  had  heard  such  impressions  avowed  by  them.  He  wished  the 
attention  of  the  House  and  the  country  while  he  declared  that  no  man  in  this  hall 
or  elsewhere  could  lay  his  hand  upon  a  remark,  resolution,  or  speech  of  his,  in 
which  he  had  ever  claimed  the  privilege  of  interfering  with  slavery  in  the  states 
of  this  Union.  For  two  days  something  like  a  dozen  gentlemen  from  the  South 
had  imputed  to  him  intentions  to  interfere  with  their  institutions.  Now,  if  any 
gentleman  in  this  hall  could  lay  his  hand  upon  a  resolution,  speech,  declaration, 
or  effort  of  his  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  states,  let  him 
stand  up  in  this  House,  in  the  presence  of  the  nation,  and  avow  it.  He  would 
yield  to  the  gentleman.  [He  here  paused  for  a  moment,  and,  no  gentleman  ris 
ing,  he  proceeded.]  Was  there  any  one  here  (he  asked)  who  would  take  upon 
himself  the  responsibility  of  declaring  that  such  an  intimation  had  ever  fallen 
from  his  (Mr.  Giddings's)  lips  ?  If  none,  where  were  the  gentlemen  who  for  days 
had  been  imputing  to  him  such  motives  ?  Where  did  they  stand  before  the  peo 
ple  of  this  country  ?  It  was  a  duty  which  he  owed  to  himself,  to  the  people 
whom  he  represented,  again  to  disavow  all  such  feelings,  intentions,  purposes, 
motives,  or  designs.  He  was  once  expelled  from  this  hall,  or,  rather,  censured 
here  for  declaring  this  very  identical  doctrine,  that  Congress  had  not  the  power 
to  interfere  with  that  institution.  He  now  took  occasion  to  say  that  the  people 
of  the  slave  states  of  this  Union  held  that  institution  supreme,  uncontrolled  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  beyond  the  power  of  this  government  to  in 
terfere  with  it  for  any  purpose  or  to  any  extent,  with  one  exception,  and  that 
was  tneir  power  of  legislation  in  regard  to  fugitive  slaves.  The  people  of  the 


300  HISTORY  OF    CONGRESS. 

free  states  had  the  indisputable  right  to  remain  free  from  its  contamination,  un 
stained  with  its  guilt,  exempt  entirely  from  its  support,  and  disconnected  with  all 
its  turpitude.  He  said  that  they  had  no  claim  on  the  people  of  the  free  states  to 
extend  that  institution  or  to  associate  with  new  slaveholding  states  ;  that  they  had 
no  right  to  ask  the  free  people  of  the  North  to  associate  themselves  with  slave 
holders  in  Mexico,  who,  owning  one  hundred  slaves,  would  wield  an  influence  on 
this  floor  equal  to  sixty  freemen ;  therefore  it  was  one  of  his  cardinal  principles, 
and  one  of  those  whom  he  represented,  not  to  associate  with  any  new  slavehold 
ing  states  or  slaveholding  territory.  These  were  their  sentiments:  Keep  your 
slavery  where  it  is,  and  manage  it  according  to  your  own  judgment  and  discre 
tion.  With  it  we  never  had  constitutionally,  and  never  will  have,  any  thing  to  do. 

"  Mr.  Meade  (the  floor  being  yielded)  desired  to  ask  the  gentleman  what  was 
his  object  in  so  frequently  introducing  the  subject  into  this  hall,  if  it  were  not  to 
operate  on  Southern  institutions. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said  he  had  invited  gentlemen,  if  they  had  ever  heard  a  word 
from  him  affirming  the  power  of  Congress  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slave 
ry  in  the  States,  to  say  so.  Did  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  pretend  ever  to  have 
heard  from  his  lips  such  a  proposition  ?  ,  No ;  no  gentleman  had  ever  heard  it ;  no 
gentleman  could  be  found  to  rise  and  declare  that  he  had. 

"  Mr.  Meade  (in  his  seat)  called  upon  the  gentleman  to  answer  his  question. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  replied,  he  would  do  it ;  but  he  did  not  like  to  have  the  gentle 
man  consume  his  time  by  putting  questions  wholly  irrelevant  to  the  subjects  he 
was  discussing. 

"  The  gentleman  asked  him  what  were  his  motives  in  discussing  this  subject. 
To  wash  his  hands,  and  those  of  the  people  of  the  North,  from  the  stain  of  sup 
porting  this  institution  in  this  district.  Did  the  gentleman  suppose  that,  because 
he  would  not  interfere  with  the  slavery  of  the  South,  he  was  to  stand  here  with 
his  lips  hermetically  sealed  from  expressing  his  sentiments  upon  the  outrages  and 
wrongs  perpetrated  in  upholding  this  institution  in  this  district  ?  No ;  he  would 
unseal  them ;  he  would  give  expression  to  his  deep  abhorrence.  Would  gentle 
men  say  that  he  was  not  to  speak  upon  slavery  here  because  they  had  slaves  at 
the  South  ?  Take  care  of  your  own  slaves  (said  he) ;  we  will  look  to  those  under 
our  protection. 

"  He  was  remarking  that  he  stood  here  as  a  legislator  under  the  Constitution. 
His  duties  were  plain — so  plain,  that  the  wayfaring  man,  though  a  fool,  could  not 
mistake  them.  They  were  to  let  the  slavery  of  the  Southern  States  alone.  It  had 
ever  been  the  duty  of  the  national  Legislature  to  let  it  be  ;  and  when  they  estab 
lished  it  in  this  district,  they  violated  their  duty  to  God  and  to  their  fellow-men ; 
they  had  violated  the  duties  which  they  owed  to  themselves,  their  constituents, 
and  the  human  race,  Now  repeal  those  laws  which  involved  them  in  the  turpi 
tude  of  maintaining  this  institution,  and  then  they  would  have  done  with  it ;  and 
he,  for  one,  would  never  mention  it  here  or  elsewhere  as  a  member  of  this  body. 
This  result  they  intended  to  bring  about;  and  he  took  occasion  to  say  to  gentle 
men,  You  shall  not  bring  us  to  share  with  you  in  the  guilt  and  turpitude  of  this 
traffic  in  human  flesh  now  carried  on  here  under  our  protection.  It  was  the  voice 
of  the  people  of  the  free  states  that  they  would  not  remain  thus  contaminated 
•with  the  guilt  of  that  institution ;  and  he  said  to  gentlemen  that  they  would  have 
this  ;  they  would  not  vote  for  their  presidents  or  any  other  officers  who  undertook 
to  hold  them  partakers  in  that  guilt  and  iniquity.  The  separation  of  this  govern 
ment  from  all  interference  with  slavery  was  the  motto  which  they  had  placed  on 
their  banner.  It  was  freedom;  the  rights  of  man,  uncontaminated  with  this  foul 
blot  on  the  American  escutcheon. 

"It  was  no  part  of  his  intention  to  reply  to  the  assaults  made  upon  him  a  few 


JOSHUA   REED    GIDDTNGS.  301 

clays  since,  when  this  matter  was  under  consideration.  He  had  to  do  with  more 
important  matters  than  defending  himself.  These  personal  reflections  were  unbe 
coming  the  solemn  occasion  on  which  they  were  now  discussing  the  rights  of  hu 
manity.  He  had  taken  occasion  for  the  hundredth  time  to  define  his  position ; 
and  when  gentlemen  imputed  to  him  sentiments  which  they  knew  he  did  not  en 
tertain,  he  told  them  to  beware  lest  their  misrepresentations  should  be  exposed. 
Gentlemen  of  the  South  had  introduced  the  discussion  pf  this  subject  here.  It 
was  a  question  which  was  discussed  in  all  our  legislative  bodies  throughout  the 
United  States;  which  was  discussed  in  our  political  conventions,  by  our  newspa 
per  press,  and  by  our  literary  periodicals;  in  our  school  districts  and  township 
meetings ;  in  prayers  and  the  sacred  pulpit ;  by  the  fireside  and  the  wayside ;  and 
he  said  to  gentlemen,  it  was  too  late  in  the  day  to  attempt  to  suppress  the  discus 
sion  of  this  question.  It  would  be  discussed.  Yet  he  must  say  he  had  not  been 
desirous,  nor  in  any  way  instrumental,  in  introducing  this  subject  into  discussion, 
at  this  time.  He  deemed  it  inappropriate.  The  resolution  of  his  friend  from 
Massachusetts  did  not  allude  to  the  institution  of  slavery  in  any  way,  either  direct 
ly  or  indirectly.  This  resolution  proposed  an  investigation  to  ascertain  a  simple 
matter  of  fact.  In  its  preamble  it  recited  that  reports  had  reached  the  ears  of 
members  of  this  body  that  a  lawless  mob  had  existed  in  this  city  for  two  nights 
previous  to  the  introduction  of  the  resolution,  setting  at  defiance  the  constituted 
authorities  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  proposition  was  to  inquire 
whether  such  was  the  fact.  It  also  stated  that  certain  members  of  this  body  had 
been  menaced  by  this  lawless  mob,  and  it  proposed  an  inquiry  into  this  fact.  As 
gentlemen  had  imputed  to  him  (Mr.  Giddings)  that  he  was  the  individual  men 
aced,  it  was  proper  for  him  to  say  that  he  had  had  no  hand  in  introducing  the  reso 
lution  ;  the  gentleman  had  done  it  on  the  motion  of  his  own  will,  and  not  his  (Mr. 
Giddings's).  Gentlemen  had  represented  him  as  not  only  introducing  this  resolu 
tion,  but  as  insisting  on  the  protection  of  this  body.  They  had  represented  the 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  as  asking  the  protection  of  this  House.  There  was 
nothing  in  this  resolution  regarding  protection.  It  only  proposed  to  ascertain  the 
fact  whether  members  of  Congress  had  been  menaced  by  a  lawless  mob  in  the 
City  of  Washington.  It  was  to  let  the  people  of  the  states  throughout  this  Union 
know  whether  their  representatives,  sent  here  for  the  discharge  of  their  public 
duties,  while  confining  themselves  to  this  district,  had  been  menaced  by  lawless 
violence.  Did  any  man  suppose  that  he  (Mr.  Giddings)  asked  the  protection  of 
this  body  ?  If  he  ever  had  occasion  under  heaven  to  ask  protection  from  any  hu 
man  being,  it  was  from  this  body,  not  of  it.  If  he  had  ever  seen  a  lawless  mob, 
it  was  on  Tuesday  last,  at  the  jail  and  in  this  House.  He  had  heard  members  here, 
while  the  galleries  were  filled,  and  while  many  composing  the  mob  were  said  to 
be  in  them,  declare  themselves  ready  to  justify  the  mob  to  the  fullest  extent.  He 
had  no  disposition  to  look  for  protection  to  a  body  from  which  he  had  received  as 
many  indignities  as  he  had  from  members  of  Congress.  Was  he,  at  this  late  day, 
to  come  here  to  ask  for  protection  ?  No,  it  was  no  part  of  his  object.  No,  said 
he,  let  the  House  protect  its  own  honor — protect  their  awn  dignity,  and  he  would 
take  care  of  the  protection  of  his  person  in  his  own  way. 

"  He  therefore  said  that  this  inquiry  was  plain  and  simple  in  itself.  Its  object 
was  to  carry  information  to  the  people  of  this  Union;  to  inform  them  of  the  feel 
ing  that  existed  in  this  slaveholding  community ;  to  expose  the  spirit  of  violence 
and  anarchy  which  was  exhibited  here  against  those  who  dared  to  speak  the  sen 
timents  which  they  entertained  in  favor  of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  humanity. 

"  He  wanted  his  constituents,  the  people  of  his  state  and  the  free  states,  to  un 
derstand  what  violence  and  lawless  mobs  arose  from  the  slaveholding  and  slave- 
dealing  influence  in  this  district.  This  was  what  he  wished  them  to  understand. 


302  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

He  cared  not  whether  the  House  passed  this  resolution  or  not.  It  was  well 
known  to  the  members  of  this  House,  that  for  forty-eight  hours  prior  to  the  intro 
duction  of  this  resolution  a  lawless  mob  did  control  this  city ;  that  men,  if  report 
were  true — and  there  was  no  reason  to  doubt  it — in  office,  clerks  in  the  employ- 
men^  of  the  United  States,  attended  and  led  on  that  mob ;  that  men  in  official 
stations  were  there,  stimulating  that  mob  to  violence ;  that  the  mob  consisted  the 
first  night  of  hundreds,  and  the  next  night  of  thousands;  and  during  this  time, 
here,  where  the  arms,  munitions,  and  the  whole  power  of  protection  was  com 
mitted  to  the  executive  officers  of  the  government,  not  a  movement  was  made  to 
suppress  it,  so  far  as  they  were  concerned.  The  object  of  this  mob  unquestion 
ably  was  to  prostrate  one  of  the  presses  of  this  city.  There  was  no  doubt  about 
that.  And  not  only  this,  but  who  were  those  who  led  it  on  ?  Not  the  respect 
able  citizens  of  the  City  of  Washington;  so  far  as  he  knew  their  deportment,  they 
were  to  be  excepted  from  any  charge  of  participating  in  the  disgrace.  They  were 
your  slave-dealers  from  Baltimore,  Alexandria,  Richmond,  and  the  surrounding 
country ;  it  was  the  slave-dealers  and  slave-breeders ;  the  men  who  raise  man 
kind  for  market,  whose  living  and  support  was  by  raising  and  selling  their  fellow- 
men.  It  was  that  class  of  characters  who  came  into  this  city  to  threaten  its  gov 
ernment  and  community,  disturb  its  peace,  and  overthrow  the  press  to  which  he 
had  alluded.  These  men,  associating  together  in  this  way,  were  the  leaders  and 
exciters  of  this  mob. 

"  Now  another  thing  known  to  every  man  here,  and  one  which  had  been  re 
ferred  to  this  morning,  was,  that  the  mob,  when  it  assembled  on  the  first  night, 
did  avow  the  intention  of  prostrating  that  press  and  that  office,  and  with  this  pub 
licly-avowed  purpose  adjourned  until  the  next  night,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
in  more  of  these  despicable  characters  from  abroad  to  enable  them  to  effect  their 
object.  This  was  all  known  by  report,  and  was  proposed  to  be  inquired  into. 

"  So  far  as  report  charged  that  a  member  or  members  of  this  House  had  been 
menaced,  was  also  to  be  inquired  into.  He  cared  nothing  about  it.  He  would 
state,  as  his  name  had  been  connected  with  it,  that  on  Tuesday  of  last  week,  be 
ing  a  member  of  this  body,  and  feeling  some  little  interest  in  the  way  their  laws 
over  the  district  were  to  be  carried  into  execution,  he  had  visited  one  of  the  pub 
lic  institutions  of  our  country,  a  prison  in  this  city,  erected  by  this  government, 
and  where,  if  his  person  was  protected  in  this  building,  it  was  there,  as  much  as 
it  was  in  the  Treasury  Department,  or  any  other  of  the  departments  at  the  seat 
of  government.  He  had  gone  there  under  the  consciousness  of  protection  as  much 
as  if  he  had  been  in  front  of  the  speaker's  desk,  because  it  was  a  public  building, 
erected  by  the  funds  of  his  own  constituents  as  well  as  of  the  people  of  all  the 
free  states,  together  with  those  of  the  slave  states.  He  had  gone  there  for  the 
purpose  declared  here  on  a  former  occasion.  He  had  then  said  all  he  wished  to 
on  this  point.  There  were  your  slave-dealers  and  slave-breeders  gathered  to 
gether  in  the  entrance  of  the  jail  to  menace  and  threaten  him.  Did  he  ask  pro 
tection  from  this  House  ?  No ;  when  he  felt  in  danger,  he  would  let  them  know 
it.  But  what  he  held  in  unutterable  contempt  was,  that  a  member  of  this  body, 
in  visiting  one  of  the  public  institutions  erected  by  this  government,  should  be 
threatened  by  a  miserable  mass  of  moral  putridity,  called  slaveholders  and  slave- 
breeders.  Had  it  come  to  this,  that  the  members  of  this  House  could  not  go  in 
and  out  of  the  public  institutions  in  this  district  without  meeting  that  class  of  men 
and  being  threatened  by  them  ? 

"  He  knew  not  who  these  men  were,  but,  from  reports  which  he  had  received 
from  various  quarters,  he  understood  they  were  that  class  of  men.  Now,  the  res 
olution  of  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Palfrey)  proposed  an  inquiry 
into  those  facts. 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  303 

"  But  again :  Who  was  it  that  stimulated  that  mob  ?  It  was  members  in  this 
hall.  While  their  galleries  were  filled  with  slave-dealers — men  whx>  drove  whole 
families  to  the  market,  and  bartered  men,  women,  and  children  for  gold-«-honora- 
ble  members  stood  up  here  in  this  House,  and  declared  that  they  justified  the  mob 
to  the  fullest  extent.  And  did  he  (Mr.  Giddings)  ask  for  protection  from  such 
men  ?  Such  a  declaration  had  been  made,  and  repeated,  and  reiterated  here.  This 
was  not  the  place  to  which  he  should  go  for  protection.  Yes,  members  of  this 
House  of  Representatives  stood  in  their  places  and  proclaimed,  not  only  to  this 
country,  but  to  the  whole  civilized  world,  that  in  their  capacity  of  legislators  they 
stood  by  and  sustained  those  wretches  in  their  lawless  violence.  And  it  was  with 
humility  and  deep  abasement  that  he  acknowledged  that  these  declarations  came 
principally  from  members  of  the  political  party  to  which  he  himself  belonged. 
He  also  felt  compelled  to  acknowledge  that,  while  this  was  going  on  here,  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  to  whose  party  he  (Mr.  Giddings)  did  not  belong, 
was  said  to  have  been  making  efforts  to  put  down  the  mob.  It  was  due  to  the 
President  that  he  should  state  this  fact.  The  people  should  know  it.  No  man 
there  would  accuse  him  of  being  a  friend  to  the  President;  but  he  honored  him, 
nevertheless,  for  his  efforts  to  suppress  these  riotous  proceedings,  and  for  his  exer 
tions  to  stop  those  disgraceful  outrages  which  were  about  to  disgrace  the  whole 
Union.  He  took  pleasure  in  vindicating  the  President  for  that  act. 

"  When  the  pending  resolution  was  brought  forward,  it  was  immediately  seized 
upon  by  gentlemen  from  the  South,  and  made  the  subject  of  an-exciting  discus 
sion.  It  was  gentlemen  from  the  Southern  States  who  did  this,  and  it  was  those 
gentlemen  who  insisted  upon  going  back  into  an  inquiry  respecting  all  the  facts 
and  circumstances  which  had  given  rise  to  the  mob.  And  what  were  the  facts? 
Why,  that  from  seventy  to  eighty  men,  women,  and  children — persons  who  had 
as  good  a  natural  right  to  liberty  as  any  gentleman  here,  who  were  entitled  to 
the  rights  which  their  Creator  had  given  them — feeling  the  galling  chains  of  slav 
ery  chafing  and  festering  in  their  flesh,  themselves  bowed  down  in  bondage,  and 
shut  out  from  the  social  and  intellectual  enjoyments  of  life,  sought  the  blessings 
of  liberty ;  and  it  was  said  that  they  were  assisted  by  three  or  four  white  men 
from  the  free  states.  But,  in  the  attempt  to  escape  from  the  custody  of  those 
who  held  them  in  bondage,  they  were  arrested,  and  placed  in  a  prison  erected 
with  the  money  of  this  nation  ;  and  this  was  done  under  the  authority  of  the  laws 
of  this  district,  enacted  by  Congress,  and  sustained  by  members  on  this  floor.  In 
that  prison  they  were  kept  two  or  three  days ;  and  on  Friday  last,  this  very  man, 
Slatter,  of  Baltimore,  who  had  headed  the  mob  at  the  prison  on  Tuesday,  pur 
chased  some  forty  or  fifty  of  those  fathers,  brothers,  and  sons,  mothers,  daughters, 
and  sisters,  and  marched  them  to  the  dep6t,  where  their  friends  had  collected  to 
take  their  final  leave  ere  they  proceeded  to  the  South,  to  drag  out  a  miserable  ex 
istence  in  the  rice-fields  and  cotton  plantations  of  that  region.  There  a  scene  was 
presented  which  he  thought  not  even  a  slaveholder  could  have  looked  upon  with 
out  some  sympathy  for  those  victims  of  slaveholding  cupidity.  Sighs,  and  groans, 
and  tears,  and  unutterable  anguish  characterized  a  transaction  which  would  have 
disgraced  the  slave-market  of  Constantinople.  It  was  a  scene  which  could  not 
have  failed  to  excite  every  sympathy  of  our  nature  for  suffering  humanity.  And 
by  whose  authority  were  they  thus  sold,  and  doomed  to  hopeless  suffering  at  the 
hands  of  worse  than  Mohammedan  masters  ?  Here,  if  he  could,  he  would  make 
an  appeal  to  this  House ;  he  would  appeal  even  to  the  gentleman  who  had  just 
addressed  the  House,  and  he  would  ask  that  gentleman  if  he  could  lay  his  hand 
on  his  heart,  and  in  the  presence  of  his  God  declare  that  he  had  dealt  out  to  those 
people  who  were  his  fellow-men  that  justice  which  he  had  expected  at  the  hands 
of  his  fellow-man  ?  Had  he  shown  them  that  mercy  which  he  hoped  to  receive 


304  Hi  STORY  OF    CONGRESS. 

from  his  God  ?  He  would  ask  that  gentleman  if  he  could  thus  conscientiously 
lend  his  voice  and  his  official  influence  to  the  dealers  in  human  flesh  ?  Would  he 
lend  his  vote  to  encourage  these  hucksterers  in  our  common  humanity  ?  It  was 
a  humiliating  reflection  that  our  laws  caused  these  men  and  women,  and  children 
and  tender  babes,  to  be  thus  sold  and  sent  to  the  ceaseless  toil  and  cruel  tortures 
of  our  slave-consuming  states,  there  to  wear  out  a  life  of  wretchedness  and  misery. 

"If.  the  gentleman  who  had  just  addressed  the  House  could  approve  and  sanc 
tion  such  cruelty,  and  torture,  and  barbarous  murder,  he  (Mr.  Giddings)  could  not 
do  it.  He  would  not  do  it;  it  was  unbecoming  a  Christian  nation;  it  was  a  dis 
grace  to  the  age  in  which  we  live.  What  a  spectacle  did  we  present  to  the  civil 
ized  world !  Yesterday  the  members  of  this  House  gathered  together  with  the  cit 
izens  of  this  district  to  rejoice,  and  shout,  and  sing  in  honor  of  France  for  freeing 
herself  from  the  bonds  of  oppression,  and  driving  her  king  from  her  shores,  thereby 
relieving  herself  from  oppression,  and  giving  liberty  to  her  slaves.  While  we 
were  thus  before  the  world  expressing  our  sympathy  with  France,  we  were  here 
in  this  district  maintaining  a  slave-market  more  shocking  to  the  feelings  of  human 
ity  than  any  to  be  found  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  grand  sultan. 

"  It  had  been  urged  by  gentlemen  on  this  floor  that  he,  and  others  who  acted 
with  him,  had  engaged  in  this  House  in  discussions  of  the  subject  of  slavery  within 
the  states.  With  one  exception,  that  accusation  was  not  true.  Some  four  years 
ago,  he  admitted,  he  had  been  induced  to  go  into  that  subject  by  the  remaks  of  a 
distinguished  Southern  gentleman,  a  member  of  the  executive  cabinet  (Mr.  Cal- 
houn),  who,  in  his  official  correspondence,  had  argued  that  slavery  was  a  Christian 
and  humane  institution.  On  that,  and  on  no  other  occasion,  had  he  permitted 
himself  to  be  drawn  into  a  discussion  of  the  effects  of  slavery  in  the  states.  He 
thought  he  would  not  again  be  dragged  into  it;  but  he  would  discuss  the  subject 
of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  in  the  territories  of  these  United  States 
at  all  times,  when  Southern  men  forced  it  upon  him. 

"  He  would  now  direct  his  attention  to  the  remarks  of  some  gentlemen  who 
had  preceded  him,  and  would  briefly  notice  some  of  the  doctrines  which  had  been 
advanced  in  the  course  of  this  discussion.  The  gentleman  to  whom  he  wished 
first  to  direct  his  attention  not  being  in  his  seat,  he  would  turn  to  the  gentleman 
from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Haskell),  to  an  extract  from  whose  speech  he  would  call 
the  attention  of  the  House.  That  gentleman,  in  the  course  of  his  remarks  on  Wed 
nesday  last,  was  reported  to  have  said, 

"Now,  a  strange  state  of  things  was  presented  here.  Members  of  this  body, 
as  he  believed  and  felt  ready  to  charge,  had  been  engaged,  by  the  course  of  con 
duct  they  pursued  on  this  floor  and  out  of  this  hall,  in  the  deliberate  attempt  to 
scatter  the  seeds  of  insurrection  and  insubordination,  if  not  rebellion,  among  the 
slaves  in  this  district.  Men  on  this  floor,  under  the  garb  of  philanthropy  and  love 
of  human  liberty,  had  been  endeavoring  to  perpetrate  felonies  for  which  they 
ought  to  swing  as  high  as  Haman.  He  spoke  the  plain  truth.  He  was  willing 
to  have  his  words  measured,  and  he  held  himself  responsible  for  the  language 
he  used.  An  attempt  had  been  made  on  this  floor  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  in  the  form  of  law,  if  they  could,  and  in  violation  of  the  Consti 
tution  ;  and,  baffled  and  foiled  in  that,  these  mock  philanthropists  were  now,  as 
he  believed  before  God,  attempting  to  abolish  slavery  in  this  district  by  inciting 
the  negroes  to  leave  their  masters. 

"  The  speaker  here  interposed,  and  reminded  the  gentleman  that  the  question 
before  the  House  was  upon  the  appeal. 

"  Mr.  Haskell  (continuing)  charged  that  the  conduct  of  these  men,  their  lan 
guage  on  this  floor  and  out  of  this  House,  had  been  such  as  to  produce  this  state 
of  things — a  disposition  to  insurrection  and  rebellion  among  the  slaves  in  this  dis- 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  305 

trict.  He  held  in  his  hand  a  resolution  which  he  intended  to  move,  and  which  he 
should  move,  by  way  of  amendment,  when  this  House  entertained  the  resolution 
of  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  having  for  its  object  an  inquiry  into  the  con 
duct  of  these  members,  and,  if  they  were  found  guilty,  their  expulsion  from  this 
body,  as  unworthy  to  hold  seats  on  this  floor. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said,  before  he  proceeded  to  comment  on  this  extract,  he  would 
correct  an  error  into  which  a  gentleman  opposite  (Mr.  Stanton)  had  fallen.  That 
gentleman  said  that  he  (Mr.  Giddings)  denied  all  connection  with  the  transaction 
in  reference  to  these  slaves.  The  remarks  which  he  had  made  were  that  he  knew 
nor  had  heard  nothing  of  the  persons  engaged  in  carrying  these  slaves  away.  He 
had  not  denied  having  enticed  away  the  slaves  himself.  He  had  said  nothing  on 
that  subject.  When  such  a  charge  should  come  from  a  respectable  source,  he 
would  consider  the  propriety  of  answering  it.  He  did  not  feel  called  on  at  this 
time  to  admit  or  deny  it. 

"  He  would  now  return  to  the  gentleman  whose  remarks  had  announced  his  in 
tention  to  expel  him  (Mr.  Giddings.)  from  this  House  ;  and  he  would  say  to  that 
gentleman  that  it  was  rather  too  late  to  attempt  to  seal  his  lips  and  the  lips  of 
Northern  members  to  prevent  the  discussion  of  constitutional  questions  in  this 
House.  He  gave  notice  to  that  gentleman  and  to  all  others,  that,  as  he  had  the 
right  to  do  it,  he  should  say  what  he  thought.  He  intended  to  call  things  by 
their  right  names,  and,  so  far  as  able,  would  make  himself  understood  by  this 
House ;  and,  when  this  hall  again  ceased  to  be  a  place  of  free  discussion,  his  con 
stituents  would  be  represented  by  some  other  gentleman,  or  they  would  cease  to 
be  represented  here.  The  slave  power  had  once  reigned  triumphant  here.  Not 
so  at  this  time :  we  had  regained  the  freedom  of  debate,  and  it  would  never  again 
be  surrendered.  Gentlemen,  in  making  such  threats,  appeared  to  forget  that 
they  were  not  now  on  their  plantations,  exercising  their  petty  tyranny  over  slaves, 
who,  in  their  degradation,  crouched  and  trembled  at  their  master's  bidding.  Or 
did  those  gentlemen  suppose  that  they  could  bring  the  practices  of  their  planta 
tions  into  these  halls  ?  Those  gentlemen  should  know  that  this  was  not  the  place 
for  that  kind  of  demeanor.  This  was  no  place  for  the  display  of  supercilious  dic 
tation.  It  belonged  not  to  the  dignity  of  legislation.  The  American  Congress 
was  no  place  for  the  manifestation  of  those  traits  which  characterize  the  overseer 
of  the  South.  It  would  not  be  tolerated  among  men  who  knew  their  rights,  and 
possessed  the  spirit  to  maintain  them.  Such  language  ought  never  to  be  used 
among  men  who  felt  the  dignity  of  their  office.  Was  he  to  stand  there  and  not 
to  speak  what  "he  thought?  Why,  such  an  idea  was  unworthy  of  a  deliberative 
body  in  this  land  of  freedom,  and  was  more  becoming  of  the  tyrannies  of  Europe 
or  of  Turkey.  He  would  tell  those  gentlemen,  when  he  ceased  to  have  the  right 
to  speak  freely  in  this  House,  he  would  take  his  departure  from  it.  His  constitu 
ents  sent  him  here  to  represent  them,  to  express  their  wishes,  and  he  should  do  it 
freely,  without  restraint,  or  not  at  aH,  notwithstanding  the  spasmodic  eloquence 
of  the  gentleman  who  wished  to  have  him  expelled  for  exercising  the  right  to 
express  his  thoughts.  Yes,  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Haskell)  wished 
to  have  him  expelled  for  words  spoken  on  this  floor !  Did  not  that  gentleman 
know  that  such  an  attempt  had  once  before  been  made  ?  And  had  he  not  seen 
the  consequence  ?  Was  he  noW  to  be  told  that  he  must  ask  Southern  gentlemen 
for  permission  to  speak,  and  were  they  to  be  the  judges  of  what  he  should  say, 
and  when  he  should  say  it?  Never,  so  long  as  his  fellow-men  were  held  in 
bondage  in  this  district,  would  he  submit  to  any  restraint  on  the  freedom  of  de 
bate  ;  nor  so  long  as  he  continued  to  hold  a  seat  here  would  he  relax  an  iota  of 
truth  to  please  the  slave  power.  He  woiild  not  disguise  the  truth,  even  if  its  ut 
terance  should  be  the  means  of  striking  off  the  shackles  of  every  slave  in  the 

VOL.  L— U 


306  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

Union.  He  had  no  fears  of  its  affecting  slave  property  here.  He  would  not  hesi 
tate  from  this  forum  to  tell  the  truth  to  all  who  heard  him,  even  if  slaves  were  list 
ening  to  him.  If  he  had  the  power,  he  would  give  to  every  slave  a  perfect  knowl 
edge  of  all  his  God-given  rights,  tfe  would  open  their  minds  to  understand  the 
oppression  that  weighed  down  their  intellects,  and  shut  out  knowledge  and  truth 
from  their  comprehension.  He  would  give  them  a  knowledge  of  the  outrage  upon 
humanity  which  holds  them  as  chattels,  and  subjects  them  to  sale  like  brutes  in  the 
market.  He  would  inform  them  that  they  came  into  the  world  from  the  hands  of 
the  same  Creator  as  those  who  lord  it  over  them ;  that  they  were  brethren,  creat 
ed  by  the  same  hand,  endowed  with  the  same  rights,  and  candidates  for  the  same 
immortality. 

"  Mr.  Gayle  asked  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  if  the  utterance  of  these  sentiments 
was  not  in  the  hearing  of  the  slaves. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said  the  gentleman  from  Alabama  could  answer  that  question 
as  well  as  himself.  But  this  he  would  say  to  that  gentleman,  that  if  the  utterance 
of  such  truths  would  release  them  from  bondage,  God  knows  it  should  be  done. 
Let  gentlemen  teach  their  bondmen  to  tremble,  but  let  them  not  come  here  to 
threaten  freemen.  Gentlemen  might  hold  their  grasp  on  their  fellow-men,  and 
deprive  them  of  the  rights  conferred  by  the  God  who  created  them,  and  make 
their  lacerated  flesh  quiver  with  the  lash,  but  they  need  not  come  here  and  tell 
him  that  he  should  only  speak  by  their  permission. 

"  Mr.  Gayle  inquired  if  the  gentleman  alluded  to  him  when  he  spoke  of  the 
flesh  being  made  to  quiver  by  the  lash.  He  never  used  the  lash  on  his  slaves, 
who  would  not,  however,  accompany  him  here,  because  they  were  afraid  that  the 
Abolitionists  would  skin  them. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  replied  that  the  gentleman's  statement  showed  to  what  degree 
of  degradation  slavery  can  reduce  the  immortal  mind.  The  gentleman  from  Ala 
bama,  it  appeared,  had  succeeded  to  that  extent,  and  he  came  here  to  boast  of  it. 
He  had  carried  his  oppression  so  far  as  to  blot  from  the  intellect  of  his  fellow-man 
his  natural  and  instinctive  love  of  freedom.  He  had  taught  his  slaves  to  hug  their 
chains,  to  shudder  at  the  thought  of  being  free  ;  and  now  stood  up  here,  before 
the  American  people,  and  boasted  of  the  success  of  his  experiment.  His  whole 
statement  was  in  keeping  with  the  institution  of  slavery.  It  degraded  the  im 
mortal  mind,  and  reduced  man  to  the  level  of  brutes.  He  asked  that  gentleman 
if  he  taught  his  slaves  to  read  the  Word  of  God  ?  or  was  it  not  an  offense  under 
their  laws  to  teach  slaves  to  read  that  sacred  book  ?  Was  not  such  an  offense 
punishable  by  incarceration  in  the  penitentiary  ?  They  had  only  to  go  a  few  rods 
across  that  river  (the  Potomac),  and  they  would  expose  themselves  to  the  penal 
ties  of  such  a  law  if  they  should  attempt  to  teach  slaves  to  read  the  Scriptures. 
Yes,  to  instruct  slaves  in  the  way  of  salvation,  by  enabling  them  to  read  the  Word 
of  God,  was  deemed  a  crime  in  this  Christian  land — this  land  of  Bibles  and  min 
isters,  and  sabbaths  and  of  slaves. 

"  But  to  return  to  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee  (Mr.  Has- 
kell),  who  had  expressed  himself  so  strongly  in  regard  to  his  exercise  of  the  free 
dom  of  speech.  The  gentleman  thought  that  he  (Mr.  Giddings)  should  hang  as 
high  as  Haman  for  thus  daring  to  speak  his  sentiments.  That  he  supposed  to  be 
slaveholdiug  punishment  for  speaking  truth.  But  he  could  spend  no  more  time 
upon  the  gentleman's  proposition.  Another  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  (Mr. 
Venable)  had  spoken  to  the  same  effect  on  this  subject.  That  gentleman  seemed 
to  intimate  that  he  (Mr.  Giddings)  had  treated  the  institution  of  slavery  with  great 
want  of  respect  in  saying  that  if  a  slave  defended  himself  on  Ohio  soil,  even  to 
killing  his  master,  they  would  not  hang  him  to  please  all  the  slaveholders  in  Chris 
tendom.  That  gentleman,  if  he  was  not  misinformed,  belonged  to,  and  was  a  mem- 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  307 

ber  of,  a  church  founded  by  that  good  man,  John  Wesley.  He  believed  the  gen 
tleman  from  North  Carolina  was  a  Methodist,  and  yet  the  respected  founder  of 
that  Church  had  denounced  slavery  as  '  the  sum  of  all  villainies.1 

"  Mr.  Venable  said  the  gentleman  was  mistaken  ;  he  was  a  Presbyterian. 

"  Mr.  Giddings.  The  gentleman  was  a  Presbyterian,  and  yet  he  held  slavery  to 
be  a  blessing !  Would  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  sit  down  with  his 
slave  and  brother  in  Christ  at  the  sacramental  board  cotnmemorative  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  sacrificial  death  ?  Would  he  partake  of  the  bread  and  wine  in  re 
membrance  of  the  crucified  Savior  one  day  with  his  slave  and  brother,  and  on  the 
next  sell  him  who  thus  bears  the  image  of  God  for  paltry  pelf,  and  still  say  he 
was  a  Presbyterian?  He  (Mr.  Giddings)  denied  it;  the  gentleman  could  be  no 
Presbyterian.  No  man  could  be  a  Presbyterian  who  sold  God's  image,  and  trans 
formed  the  immortal  mind  into  a  state  of  degradation,  and  shut  out  the  Scriptures 
of  eternal  life  from  his  brother.  It  was  impossible.  He  could  scarcely  realize 
that  he  lived  in  the  nineteenth  century,  or  in  a  Christian  land.  He  could  scarcely 
realize  that  he  lived  in  an  age  when  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion  were  per 
verted  for  the  purpose  of  degrading  our  fellow-man,  and  shutting  out  from  him  the 
hope  of  eternal  life. 

"  Mr.  Venable  begged  to  say  to  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  as  he  had  alluded  to 
the  subject  of  religion,  that  he  was  no  Methodist,  though  he  highly  respected  that 
sect.  He  was  a  Presbyterian ;  but  he  should  not  enter  with  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio  into  a  religious  discussion.  He  wished  not  either  to  hear  any  thing  of  the 
gentleman's  history,  nor  should  he  stay  to  dilate  upon  his  own ;  but  he  would  re 
fer  the  gentleman  to  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  Philemon,  from  which  that  gentleman 
would  learn  that  Paul  did  not  tell  servants  to  run  away  from  their  masters,  but 
to  return  back  to  them.  When  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  could  bring  evidence 
to  show  that  he  was  better,  wiser,  and  holier  than  Paul,  he  would  listen  to  his 
counsels,  and  not  till  then. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  said  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  was  rather  too  much 
excited  for  a  Presbyterian.  But  it  was  not  enough  that  professors  in  this  hall 
should  pervert  our  holy  religion  to  the  purpose  of  justifying  the  crimes  of  slavery, 
but  the  Scriptures  of  Truth  were  to  be  prostituted  to  the  maintenance  of  that  in 
stitution.  Had  it  come  to  this,  that  a  member  of  this  House  and  of  a  Christian 
church  could  here  stand  up  and  justify  what  such  a  man  as  John  Wesley  had  call 
ed,  not  murder,  nor  theft,  nor  adultery,  but  '  the  sin  of  all  villainies'  compounded  ? 
The  substance  of  all  their  crimes  are  brought  into  the  significant  expression  of  slave- 
holding.  He  trusted  that  neither  the  gentleman  from  Tennessee,  who  was  dispos 
ed  to  hang  him,  nor  the  gentleman  who  had  felt  hurt  at  his  former  remarks,  would 
take  offense  at  what  he  was  saying.  If  they  did,  he  would  inform  them  that  they 
could  probably  find  room  in  the  Rotund o  until  he  should  close  what  he  had  to  say. 

"It  had  been  said  in  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol,  by  a  gentleman  of  high  dis 
tinction,  that  the  average  life  of  slaves  on  the  sugar  plantations  was  but  five  years, 
and  on  the  cotton  plantations  only  seven  years.  Thus  whole  generations  are  mur 
dered  in  those  regions  every  seven  and  five  years.  Gentlemen  would  remember 
that  he  spoke  from  higli  authority — upon  slaveholding  data.  And  these  murders 
were  attempted  to  be  justified  by  Scripture ;  and  because  he  had  denounced  the 
system  and  the  practice,  he  was  deserving  to  be,  not  only  mobbed,  but  hanged, 
according  to  the  opinion  of  gentlemen  in  this  hall.  Indeed,  it  was  attempted  to 
involve  St.  Paul  in  these  crimes  by  saying  that  he  justified  slavery  while  writing 
under  Divine  inspiration.  If  such  was  the  fact,  he  would  abjure  his  religion  and 
turn  Turk. 

"  He  would  pass  over  much  which  he  had  intended  to  say  on  some  other  topics, 
as  his  time  was  nearly  exhausted.  If  he  should  write  out  his  remarks,  he  might 


308  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

notice  them.  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Bayly)  had  complained  of  his 
(Mr.  Giddings's)  want  of  respect  for  the  institution  of  slavery.  That  gentleman 
had,  in  his  characteristic  manner,  assailed  his  (Mr.  Giddings's)  motives.  Now,  he 
would  not  stay  to  reply  to  that  gentleman's  censure,  nor  to  his  attempt  to  make 
them  believe  that  slavery  was  a  moral  and  justifiable  institution.  He  would  pre 
fer  to  read  a  few  passages  from  an  author  of  that  gentleman's  own  state.  In 
Jefferson's  Notes  he  found  the  following: 

"" '  There  must  doubtless  be  an  unhappy  influence  on  the  manners  of  our  people 
produced  by  the  existence  of  slavery  among  us.  The  whole  commerce  between 
master  and  slave  is  a  perpetual  exercise  of  the  most  boisterous  passions,  the  most 
unremitting  despotism  on  the  one  part,  and  degrading  submission  on  the  other. 
Our  children  see  this,  and  learn  to  imitate  it ;  for  man  is  an  imitative  animal. 
This  quality  is  the  germ  of  all  education  in  him.  From  his  cradle  to  his  grave  he 
is  learning  to  do  what  he  sees  others  do.  If  a  parent  could  find  no  motive  either 
in  his  philanthropy  or  his  self-love  for  restraining  the  intemperance  of  passion  to 
ward  his  slave,  it  should  always  be  a  sufficient  one  that  his  child  is  present.  But 
generally  it  is  not  sufficient.  The  parent  storms,  the  child  looks  on,  catches  the 
lineaments  of  wrath,  puts  on  the  same  airs  in  the  circle  of  smaller  slaves,  gives  a 
loose  to  the  worst  of  passions,  and,  thus  nursed,  educated,  and  daily  exercised  in 
tyranny,  can  not  but  be  stamped  by  it  with  odious  peculiarities.  The  man  must 
be  a  prodigy  who  can  retain  his  manners  and  morals  undepraved  by  such  circum 
stances.' 

"  This  was  from  the  apostle  of  Democracy,  a  native  of  the  Old  Dominion,  whose 
emphatic  assertion  was,  that  'that  man  must  be  a  prodigy  who  can  retain  his 
manners  and  morals  undepraved'  by  slavery.  He  would  commend  these  words 
to  the  consideration  of  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Bayly).  He  would  ap 
peal  to  those  present,  when  that  gentleman  delivered  his  speech  on  Friday  last,  if 
this  description  of  the  gentleman's  manner  was  not  true  to  the  life  ?  Were  not  his 
empty  vaporings,  his  unbounded  vanity,  a  perfect  fulfillment  of  this  prophecy  ? 

"  That  member,  in  his  official  station,  had  attempted  to  argue  the  House  into 
the  belief  that  slavery  was  a  blessing.  He  would  refer  again  to  Mr.  Jefferson's 
opinion,  as  recorded  by  himself.  That  statesman,  in  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  says : 

" '  And  with  what  execration  should  the  statesman  be  loaded  who,  permitting 
one  half  the  citizens  thus  to  trample  on  the  rights  of  the  other,  transforms  those 
into  despots  and  these  into  enemies,  destroys  the  morals  of  the  one  part,  and  the 
amor  patrice  of  the  other ;  for,  if  a  slave  can  have  a  country  in  this  world,  it  must 
be  any  other  in  preference  to  that  in  which  he  is  born  to  live  and  labor  for  an 
other  ;  in  which  he  must  lock  up  the  faculties  of  his  nature,  contribute,  as  far  as 
depends  on  his  individual  endeavors,  to  the  evanishment  of  the  human  race,  or 
entail  his  own  miserable  condition  on  the  endless  generations  proceeding  from 
him.  With  the  morals  of  the  people,  their  industry  is  also  destroyed ;  for  in  a 
warm  climate  no  man  will  labor  for  himself  who  can  make  another  labor  for  him.' 

«'.  This  was  the  effect  of  slavery  as  portrayed  in  every  portion  of  the  slavehold- 
ing  country.  But  as  he  had  but  a  moment  left,  he  would  refer  to  that  portion  of 
the  gentleman's  speech  in  which  he  had  declared  that  the  Abolitionists  looked  to 
insurrection  among  the  slaves.  And,  he  would  ask,  who  did  not  look  to  that  re 
sult  ?  Could  any  reflecting  man  shut  his  eyes  to  that  inevitable  consequence  of 
slavery  ?  Did  not  Mr.  Jefferson  look  to  such  a  finale  of  that  system  of  oppression 
which  now  cripples  the  energies  and  impoverishes  the  people  of  the  whole  South  ? 
Mr.  Jefferson,  speaking  in  the  most  emphatic  language,  says : 

" '  And  can  the  liberties  of  a  nation  be  thought  secure  when  we  have  removed 
their  only  firm  basis,  a  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that  these  liberties 
are  the  gift  of  God ;  that  they  are  not  to  be  violated  but  with  his  wrath  ?  Indeed, 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  309 

I  tremble  for  my  country  when  I  reflect  that  God  is  just ;  that  his  justice  can  not 
sleep  forever ;  that,  considering  numbers,  nature,  and  natural  means  only,  a  revo 
lution  of  the  wheel  of  Fortune,  an  exchange  of  situation,  is  among  possible  events; 
that  it  may  become  probable  by  supernatural  interference !  The  Almighty  has 
no  attribute  which  can  take  side  with  us  in  such  a  contest.' 

"  No,"  concluded  Mr.  Giddings,  "  the  Almighty  has  no  attribute  that  will  per 
mit  him  to  take  sides  with  oppression,  outrage,  and  crime.  When  the  day  of 
retribution  shall  arrive,  a  holy  and  just  God  can  take  no  part  with  slaveholders. 

"  Mr.  Giddings  was  here  cut  off  by  the  expiration  of  his  hour,  and  the  whole 
subject  was  then  laid  on  the  table,  as  heretofore  stated." 

We  will  add  to  these  extracts  the  following  debate,  as  given 
in  the  official  reports,  which  took  pla^e  in  the  Senate  on  the 
20th  of  April,  on  the  bill  introduced  by  Mr.  Hale,  of  New 
Hampshire,  relating  to  riots  and  unlawful  assemblages  in  the 
District  of  Columbia.  The  bill  had  its  origin  in  the  transac 
tions  connected  with  the  schooner  "  Pearl." 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  On  the  4th  of  March,  1837,  the  American  people  of  all  parties 
assembled  at  this  Capitol  for  the  purpose  of  witnessing  the  inauguration  of  a  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States.  That  President  was  a  Northern  man,  I  had  the  honor 
of  listening  to  his  inaugural  speech  ;  and  in  it  he  wisely  and  patriotically  asserted 
a  principle,  of  which  I  approved  at  the  time,  which  I  still  admire,  and  which  has 
a  close  affinity  to  the  question  so  suddenly  presented  to  this  body.  Martin  Van 
Buren  dared  to  declare,  in  his  inaugural  speech,  that  though  it  was  his  opinion — 
and  it  certainly  is  not  mine — that  Congress  has  the  power  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  yet  he  conceived  that  the  act  could  not  be  done  without 
the  most  odious  and  unpardonable  breach  of  faith  toward  the  slave  states  of  the 
Confederacy,  and  especially  Maryland  and  Virginia.  This  declaration,  not  alto 
gether  unexpected,  gave  temporary  quiet  and  satisfaction  to  the  South.  I  had 
thought,  until  recently,  that  there  were  very  few  men  in  the  Republic,  claiming 
any  thing  like  a  prominent  standing  among  their  fellow-citizens,  who  entertained 
a  different  opinion  from  that  thus  expressed,  or  who,  if  entertaining  it,  would 
undertake  to  express  it  in  the  national  councils  of  this  Republic.  But  the  aboli 
tion  movement  has  not  been  quite  so  successful  as  some  desired  it  to  be ;  and 
now  we  see  plain  indications  that  individuals — for  I  can  not  conscientiously  call 
them  gentlemen — asserting  themselves  to  be  champions  of  freedom,  have  resolved 
to  cany  into  execution  a  scheme — an  attempt  to  remove,  by  any  means  whatever, 
all  the  slaves  now  within  this  district ;  so  that  those  who  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  retaining  slaves  in  their  possession  will  be  discouraged  from  bringing  others 
here,  and  that  citizens  who  may  hereafter  settle  here  will,  of  course,  on  the  prin 
ciple  of  obvious  pecuniary  policy,  decline  bringing  such  property  with  them ;  and 
that  thus,  in  this  covert  and  insidious  manner,  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  may  be  accomplished. 

"  '  The  attempt  to  legislate  directly  upon  this  subject  in  the  national  councils  is 
at  war  with  the  Constitution,  repugnant  to  all  principles  of  good  faith,  and  viola- 
tive  of  all  sentiments  of  patriotism.  With  whomsoever  it  originates,  this  move 
ment,  made  directly  or  indirectly,  within  Congress  or  out  of  it,  which  has  been 
so  justly  denounced  by  my  colleague,  is  simply  a  nefarious  attempt  to  commit 
grand  larceny  upon  the  owners,  of  slaves  in  this  district.  1  undertake  to  say  that 
there  is  not  a  man,  who  has  given  his  countenance  to  this  transaction  in  any  shape, 
who  is  not  capable  of  committing  grand  larceny ;  or,  if  he  happened  to  be  a  hero 
(as  such  men  are  not),  of  perpetrating  highway  robbery  on  any  of  the  roads  of 


310  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

this  Union.  He  is  not  a  gentleman.  He  would  not  be  countenanced  by  any  re 
spectable  person  any  where.  He  is  amenable  to  the  law.  I  go  further— and  I 
dare  say  my  sentiments  will  meet  the  approbation  of  many  even  who  do  not  live 
in  slave  states — and  I  maintain,  that  when  the  arm  of  the  law  is  too  short  to  reach 
such  a  criminal,  he  may  be  justly  punished  by  a  sovereignty  not  known  to  the 
law.  Such  proceedings  have  taken  place,  and  there  are  circumstances  which  not 
only  instigate,  but  justify  such  acts.  I  am  informed,  upon  evidence  on  which  I 
rely,  that  this  very  movement  out  of  which  the  bill  originates  has  been  instigated 
and  sanctioned  by  persons  in  high  station.  ,  It  is  even  rumored,  and  it  is  believed 
by  many — I  am  sorry,  for  the  honor  of  this  body,  to  say  so — that  a  senator  of  the 
United  States  is  concerned  in  the  movement.  Certain  it  is  that  a  member  of  an 
other  body,  meeting  in  a  certain  hall  not  far  distant,  was  yesterday  morning  en 
gaged  in  certain  reprehensible  contrivances,  and  that,  but  for  his  abject  flight  from 
the  place  of  his  infamous  intrigues,  he  would  have  been  justly  punished — not  by 
the  mob,  but  by  high-spirited  citizens  convened  for  the  purpose  of  vindicating 
their  rights  thus  unjustly  assailed. 

"  '  Why  is  it  that  this  question  is  continually  agitated  in  the  Senate  of  the  Unit 
ed  States?  that  it  is  kept  here  as  the  subject  of  perpetual  discussion  ?  Is  it  sim 
ply  that  gentlemen  wish  to  be  popular  at  home  ?  I  suppose  so.  Is  it  because 
of  their  peculiar  sympathies  for  that  portion  of  the  population  which  constitutes 
slavery  as  recognized  at  the  South  ?  What  is  the  motive  ?  Is  the  object  to  ob 
tain  popularity  ?  Is  it  to  gain  high  station  ?  Is  it  to  keep  up  a  local  excitement 
in  some  portions  of  the  North,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  political  elevation  as  the 
reward  of  such  factious  conduct  ?  But  I  care  not  for  the  motives  of  such  acts. 
I  undertake  to  say,  that  in  no  country  where  the  principles  of  honesty  are  respect 
ed,  would  such  a  movement  as  that  now  attempted  be  promoted,  or  even  counte 
nanced  for  a  moment.  I  feel  bound  on  this  occasion  to  say,  that  the  bill  proposed 
could  not  have  any  good  object.  What  does  it  declare  ?  It  declares  that  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  this  district,  through  the  only  means  which 
they  may  have  in  their  power,  to  protect  their  property,  and  prevent  it  from  be 
ing  taken  from  them,  either  by  stealth  or  open  robbery,  shall  subject  them  to  be 
mulcted  in  heavy  pecuniary  damages !  It  amounts,  then,  to  this  :  that  if  hereafter 
any  occurrence  similar  to  that  which  has  recently  disgraced  the  district  should 
happen,  and  the  good  people  of  the  district  should  assemble  and  proceed  to  the 
vessel  iti  which  their  property  had  been  placed,  and  the  captain  of  which  had  be 
come  the  agent  in  the  nefarious  transaction,  and  should  then  and  there  dare  to  use 
the  only  means  to  prevent  that  vessel  from  sailing,  and  their  property  from  being 
taken  away  before  their  eyes,  they  would  be  compelled  to  pay  heavy  pecuniary 
damages.  It  is  a  bill,  then,  obviously  intended  to  cover  and  protect  negro  steal 
ing.  It  is  a  bill  for  the  encouragement  and  immunity  of  robbery  !  That  is  its 
true  character ;  and,  whatever  the  gentleman's  own  self-sufficiency  may  induce 
him  to  entertain  of  his  own  conduct  on  this  occasion.  I  only  tell  him  now  the 
judgment  which  every  honest  man  will  pronounce  upon  it.  If  the  object  of  the 
senator  was  as  I  have  described  it,  and  as  is  apparent  on  the  face  of  the  bill,  he 
is  as  guilty  as  if  he  had  committed  highway  robbery.  I  regret  that  I  am  obliged 
to  use  harsh  terms,  but  they  are  true.  The  senator  from  South  Carolina  asserted, 
with  great  truth,  that  the  time  had  come  when  the  South  should  not  only  let  her 
voice  be  heard,  but  disclose  to  all  her  enemies  that  she  not  only  knows  her  rights, 
but,  "  knowing,  dare  maintain  them" — maintain  them  by  all  constitutional  means 
— by  all  legal  expedients — if  necessary,  by  bloodshed.  The  senator  from  New 
Hampshire  is  evidently  attempting  to  get  up  a  sort  of  civil  war  in  the  country, 
and  is  evidently  filled  with  the  spirit  of  insurrection  and  incendiarism.  He  may 
bring  about  a  result  which  will  end  in  the  spilling  of  human  blood.  I  say  to  him. 


JOSHUA   REED    GIDDINGS.  311 

however,  let  him  come  forward  boldly,  and  take  the  proper  responsibility.  Let 
him  say,  "Now  I  am  ready  to  do  battle  in  behalf  of  the  liberties  of  my  friends 
the  blacks,  the  slaves  of  the  District  of  Columbia."  Let  him  buckle  on  his  armor 
— let  him  xmsheath  his  sword,  and  at  once  commence  the  contest ;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  he  will  have  a  fair  opportunity  of  shedding  his  blood  in  this  holy  cause  on 
the  sacred  soil  of  the  District  of  Columbia.  If  he  is  really  in  earnest,  he  is  bound, 
as  a  conscientious  man,  to  pursue  this  course,  which  can  not  be  persevered  in 
without  all  those  awful  scenes  of  bloodshed  and  desolation,  long  anticipated  by 
good  men  in  every  part  of  this  republic.  When,  I  ask,  was  it  that  Southern  men 
ever  undertook  to  invade  the  quiet  and  happiness  of  the  North  ?  I  hope  I  may 
be  pardoned  in  making  this  suggestion.  I  do  not  wish  to  institute  any  invidious 
comparisons.  I  thank  Heaven,  I  have  an  abiding  confidence  in  the  good  sense, 
the  virtuous  patriotism,  and  regard  for  the  rights  of  property,  of  my  Northern 
brethren ;  and  I  believe  that  there  are  many  of  them,  of  both  parties,  who  are 
perfectly  sound  upon  this  question,  and  who  will  condemn  the  act  of  this  morning. 
The  South  has  been  forbearing.  She  has  exercised  more  than  complaisance — 
more  than  forbearance.  But  when,  I  ask,  has  any  Southern  man,  occupying  a 
seat  in  either  house  of  Congress,  attempted  to  interfere  with  any  local  interests 
in  the  North  1 

"  '  All  must  see  that  the  course  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  is  calculat 
ed  to  embroil  the  Confederacy,  to  put  in  peril  our  free  institutions,  to  jeopard  that 
Union  which  our  forefathers  established,  and  which  every  pure  patriot  through 
out  the  country  desires  shall  be  perpetuated.  Can  any  man  be  a  patriot  who 
pursues  such  a  course  ?  Is  he  an  enlightened  friend  of  freedom,  or  even  a  judi 
cious  friend  of  those  with  whom  he  affects  to  sympathize,  who  adopts  such  a  course .? 
Who  does  not  know  that  such  men  are  practically  the  worst  enemies  of  the  slaves '/ 
I  do  not  beseech  the  gentleman  to  stop ;  but  if  he  perseveres,  he  will  awaken  in 
dignation  every  where;  and  it  can  not  be  that  enlightened  men,  who  conscien 
tiously  belong  to  the  faction  at  the  North,  of  which  he  is  understood  to  be  the 
head,  can  sanction  or  approve  every  thing  that  he  may  do,  under  the  influence  of 
excitement,  in  this  body.  I  will  close  by  saying,  that  if  he  really  wishes  glory, 
and  to  be  regarded  as  the  great  liberator  of  the  blacks — if  he  wishes  to  be  partic 
ularly  distinguished  in  this  cause  of  emancipation,  as  it  is  called — let  him,  instead 
of  remaining  here  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  or  instead  of  secreting  him 
self  in  some  dark  corner  of  New  Hampshire,  where  he  may  possibly  escape  the 
just  indignation  of  good  men  throughout  this  republic,  let  him  visit  the  good  State 
of  Mississippi,  in  which  I  have  the  honor  to  reside,  and  no  doubt  he  will  be  re 
ceived  with  such  hosannas  and  shouts  of  joy  as  have  rarely  marked  the  reception 
of  any  individual  in  this  day  and  generation.  I  invite  him  there,  and  will  tell 
him  beforehand,  in  all  honesty,  that  he  could  not  go  ten  miles  into  the  interior 
before  he  would  grace  one  of  the  tallest  trees  of  the  forest,  with  a  rope  around 
his  neck,  with  the  approbation  of  every  virtuous  and  patriotic  citizen ;  and  that, 
if  necessary,  I  should  myself  assist  in  the  operation.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  « I  beg  the  indulgence  of  the  Senate  for  a  few  moments.  Though 
I  did  not  exactly  anticipate  this  discussion,  yet  I  do  not  regret  it.  Before  I  pro 
ceed  further,  as  the  honorable  senator  from  Mississippi  has  said  that  it  has  been 
asserted,  and  he  thinks  on  good  authority,  that  a  senator  of  the  United  States  con 
nived  at  this  kidnapping  of  slaves,  I  ask  him  if  he  refers  to  me  ?' 

"Mr.  Foote.  '  I  did.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  I  take  occasion,  then,  to  say,  that  the  statement  that  I  have  given 
the  slightest  countenance  to  the  procedure  is  entirely  without  the  least  foundation 
in  truth.  I  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  occurrence,  directly  or  indirectly ; 
and  I  demand  of  the  honorable  senator  to  state  the  ground  upon  which  he  has 
made  his  allegation.' 


312  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  It  has  been  stated  to  me,  and  I  certainly  believed  it ;  and,  believ 
ing  it,  I  denounced  it.  I  did  not  make  the  charge  directly.  My  remarks  were 
hypothetical.  I  am  glad  to  hear  'the  senator  say  that  he  has  had  no  connection 
with  the  movement ;  but  whether  he  had  or  not,  some  of  his  brethren,  in  the  great 
cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  no  doubt  had  much  to  do  with  it.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  The  sneer  of  the  gentleman  does  not  affect  me.  I  recognize  ev 
ery  member  of  the  human  family  as  a  brother ;  and  if  it  was  done  by  human  be 
ings,  it  was  done  by  my  brethren.  -  Once  for  all,  I  utterly  deny,  either  by  coun 
sel,  by  silence,  or  by  speech,  or  du  any  way  or  manner,  having  any  knowledge, 
cognizance,  or  suspicion  of  what  was  done,  or  might  be  done,  until  I  heard  of  this 
occurrence  as  other  senators  have  heard  of  it ;  and  I  challenge  any  one  who  enter 
tains  a  different  opinion  to  the  proof,  here,  now,  and  forever.  I  go  further  than 
that.  I  never  have  counseled,  advised,  or  aided  in  any  way,  and,  with  my  pres 
ent  impressions,  I  never  shall  counsel,  advise,  or  aid  in  any  way,  any  encroachment 
upon  the  Constitution,  in  any  of  its  provisions  or  compromises.  If  the  Constitu 
tion  be  not  broad  enough  for  the  protection  that  I  claim,  I  will  go  without  it.  I 
trust  that  on  this  subject  I  have  been  sufficiently  understood.  I  deny,  in  general 
and  particular,  not  only  cognizance,  but  all  knowledge  of  any  such  movements. 

"  '  While  I  am  up,  let  me  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to  the  case  of  a  man 
whom  I  am  proud  here  and  elsewhere  to  call  my  friend — the  editor  of  the  "  Na 
tional  Era."  This  gentleman,  in  a  card  published  in  the  "  National  Intelligencer" 
of  this  day,  declares : 

"  [Mr.  Hale  here  read  a  card,  published  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  from  the 
editor  of  the  National  Era,  which  disclaims  any  knowledge  or  connection  what 
ever  with  the  circumstances  in  regard  to  the  late  abduction  of  the  slaves.] 

"  Mr.  Calhoun  (in  his  seat).  '  Does  he  make  any  denunciation  of  the  robbery?' 

"Mr.  Hale.  '  He  had  quite  enough  to  do  in  defending  himself;  and  it  was  no 
part  of  his  duty  to  denounce  others.' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun  (in  his  seat).  '  I  understand  that.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  I  appeal  to  the  sense  of  justice  of  the  Senate,  and  ask  what  justi 
fication  there  can  be  for  assailing  the  character  and  property  of  a  man  who  knew 
no  more  of  this  occurrence  than  any  of  its  members  ?  I  appeal  to  the  honorable 
senator  who  spoke  so  eloquently  of  the  high  and  chivalric  ideas  of  right  which  are 
entertained  in  his  section  of  the  country — ' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  I  ask  the  senator — and  beg  to  remind  him  that  twenty  millions 
of  people  are  listening  to  his  answer — in  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  evidently 
known  to  him,  does  he  suppose  that  this  occurrence  could  have  taken  place  with 
out  extensive  countenance  and  aid  from  men  of  standing  in  this  district,  whether 
members  of  Congress  or  others?' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  I  have  no  doubt  that  those  persons  could  not  have  got  away  with 
out  some  aid.  It  is  enough  that  Ihave  disclaimed  all  knowledge  of  it.  I  thought 
that  when  the  honorable  senator  was  speaking,  more  than  twenty  millions  of  peo 
ple  were  listening.  He  invites  me  to  visit  the  State  of  Mississippi,  and  kindly  in 
forms  me  that  he  would  be  one  of  those  who  would  act  the  assassin,  and  put  an 
end  to  my  career.  He  would  aid  in  bringing  me  to  public  execution — no,  death 
by  a  mob.  Well,  in  return  for  his  hospitable  invitation,  I  can  only  express  the 
desire  that  he  would  penetrate  into  some  of  the  dark  corners  of  New  Hampshire ; 
and  if  he  do,  I  am  much  mistaken  if  he  would  not  find  that  the  people  in  that  be 
nighted  region  would  be  very  happy  to  listen  to  his  arguments,  and  engage  in  an 
intellectual  conflict  with  him,  in  which  the  truth  might  be  elicited.  I  think,  how 
ever,  that  the  announcement  which  the  honorable  senator  has  made  upon  this 
floor  of  the  fate  which  awaits  so  humble  an  individual  as  myself  in  the  State  of 
Mississippi,  must  convince  every  one  of  the  propriety  of  the  high  eulogium  which 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  313 

he  pronounced  upon  her  the  other  day,  when  he  spoke  of  the  high  position  which 
she  occupied  among  the  states  of  this  Confederacy.  But  enough  of  this  personal 
matter. 

"  '  I  think,  if  I  did  not  misunderstand  the  honorable  senator  from  South  Caro 
lina,  that  he  is  surprised  at  the  temerity  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire 
in  introducing  this  bill.  Let  me  ask,  What  is  this  bill?  What  is  this  incendiary 
bill,  that  has  elicited  such  a  torrent  of  invective  ?  Has  it  been  manufactured  by 
some  "  fanatical  Abolitionist?"  Why,  it  is  copied,  almost  word  for  word,  from  a 
aw  on  the  statute-book,  which  has  been  in  operation  for  years  in  the  neighboring 
state  of  Maryland.  It  has  no  allusion,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  subject  of 
slavery.  Yet  I  am  accused  of  throwing  it  in  as  a  firebrand,  and  in  order  to  make 
war  upon  the  institutions  of  the  South !  How  ?  In  God's  name,  is  it  come  to 
this,  that  in  the  American  Senate,  and  in  the  year  of  grace  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-eight,  the  rights  of  property  can  not  be  named  but  the  advo 
cates  of  slavery  are  in  arms,  and  exclaim  that  war  is  made  upon  their  institutions, 
because  it  is  attempted  to  cast  the  protection  of  the  law  around  the  property  of  an 
American  citizen  who  appeals  to  an  American  Senate  !  It  has  long  been  held  by 
you  that  your  peculiar  institution  is  incompatible  with  the  right  of  speech;  but  if 
it  be  also  incompatible  with  the  safeguards  of  the  Constitution  being  thrown 
around  property  of  American  citizens,  let  the  country  know  it!  If  that  is  to  be 
the  principle  of  your  action,  let  it  be  proclaimed  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  laud,  that  there  is  an  institution  so  omnipotent,  so  almighty,  that  even  the 
sacred  rights  of  life  and  property  must  bow  down  before  it ! 

"  '  Do  not  let  it  be  said  that  I  have  introduced  this  subject.  I  have  simply 
asked  that  the  plainest  provisions  of  the  common  law,  the  clearest  dictates  of  jus 
tice,  shall  be  extended  and  exercised  for  the  protection  of  the  property  of  citizens 
of  this  district ;  and  yet  the  honorable  senator  from  South  Carolina  is  shocked  at 
iny  temerity !' 

"  Mr.  Butler.  '  Allow  me  to  ask  one  question  with  perfect  good  temper.  The 
senator  is  discussing  the  subject  with  some  feeling ;  but  I  ask  him  whether  he 
would  vote  for  a  bill,  properly  drawn,  inflicting  punishment  on  persons  inveigling 
slaves  from  the  District  of  Columbia?' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  Certainly  not;  and  why?  Because  I  do  not  believe  that  slavery 
should  exist  here.' 

"  Mr,  Calhoun  (in  his  seat).  '  He  wishes  to  arm  the  robbers,  and  disarm  the 
people  of  the  district.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  The  honorable  senator  is  alarmed  at  my  temerity — ' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun  (in  his  seat).  '  I  did  not  use  the  word,  but  did  not  think  it  worth 
while  to  correct  the  senator? 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  The  senator  did  not  use  that  term  ?' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  'No.     I  said  brazen,  or  something  like  that.' 

"Mr.  Hale.  '  The  meaning  was  the  same.  It  was  brazen,  then,  that  I  should 
introduce  a  bill  for  the  protection  of  property  in  this  district — a  bill  perfectly- 
harmless,  but  which  he  has  construed  into  an  attack  upon  the  institutions  of  the 
South.  I  ask  the  senator  and  the  country  wherein  consists  the  temerity  ?  I  sup 
pose  it  consists  in  the  section  of  the  country  from  which  it  comes.  He  says  that 
we  seem  to  think  that  the  South  has  lost  all  feeling.  Ah  !  there  is  the  temerity. 
The  bill  comes  from  the  wrong  side  of  a  certain  parallel !  Why,  did  the  honor 
able  senator  from  South  Carolina  imagine  that  we  of  the  North,  with  our  faces 
bowed  down  to  the  earth,  and  with  our  backs  to  the  sun,  had  received  the  lash 
so  long  that  we  dared  not  look  up  ?  Did  he  suppose  that  we  dared  not  ask  that 
the  protection  of  the  law  should  be  thrown  around  property  in  the  district  to 
which  we  come  to  legislate  ? 


314  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"  'I  desire  no  war  upon  the  institution  of  slavery,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  sen 
ator  understands  the  term.  I  will  never  be  a  party  to  any  encroachments  upon 
rights  guarantied  by  the  Constitution  and  the  law — not  at  all.  I  wish  no  war 
but  a  war  of  reason — of  persuasion — of  argument ;  a  war  that  should  look  to  con 
vincing  the  understanding,  subduing  the  affections,  and  moving  the  sympathies 
of  the  heart.  That  is  the  only  war  in  which  I  would  engage.  But  it  is  said  that 
the  time  has  come — that  the  crisis  has  come,  and  that  the  South  must  meet  it. 
In  all  candor  and  honesty,  then,  let  me  say,  that  there  could  not  be  a  better  plat 
form  on  which  to  meet  the  question  than  that  presented  by  the  principles  of  this 
bill.  There  could  not  be  a  better  occasion  than  this  to  appeal  to  the  country. 
Let  the  tocsin  sound.  Let  the  word  go  forth.  Let  the  free  North  be  told  th^at 
their  craven  representatives  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  are  not  at  liberty  even  to 
claim  the  protection  of  the  rights  of  property !  The  right  of  speech  was  sacrificed 
long  ago.  But  now  is  it  to  be  proclaimed  that  we  can  not  even  introduce  a  bill 
looking  to  the  execution  of  the  plainest  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  and  the 
clearest  principles  of  justice  for  the  protection  of  personal  rights,  because  gentle 
men  choose  to  construe  it  into  an  attack  upon  that  particular  institution ! 

"  '  I  ask  again,  what  is  it  that  has  produced  this  strife,  called  up  these  denun 
ciations,  excited  all  this  invective  which  has  been  poured  upon  me,  as  if  I  were 
guilty  of  all  the  crimes  in  the  Decalogue  ?  I  call  upon  the  Senate  and  the  country 
to  take  notice  of  it.  I  ask,  On  what  do  gentlemen  of  the  South  rely  for  the  pro 
tection  of  any  institutions  on  which  they  place  any  value?  It  will  be  answered, 
Upon  the  Constitution  and  the  law.  Well,  then,  if  the  safeguards  of  the  Constitu 
tion  are  rendered  inadequate  to  the  protection  of  one  species  of  property,  how  can 
it  be  supposed  that  there  will  be  protection  for  any  ?  It  is  because  I  desire  to 
maintain,  in  all  their  strength  and  utility,  the  safeguards  of  the  Constitution,  that  I 
have  introduced  this  bill  for  the  protection  of  property  in  this  district.  And  here 
let  me  tell  the  senator  from  Alabama,  that  he  will  have  my  full  co-operation  in 
any  measure  to  prevent  kidnapping.  I  shall  expect  him  to  redeem  his  pledge. 
Again  :  I  am  shocked  to  hear  the  honorable  senator  from  South  Carolina  denounce 
this  bill  as  a  measure  calculated  to  repress  those  citizens  from  the  expression  of 
their  just  indignation.' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  '  If  the  senator  will  allow  me,  I  will  explain.  I  said  no  such 
thing.  But  I  will  take  this  occasion  to  say,  that  I  would  just  as  soon  argue  with 
a  maniac  from  Bedlam,  as  with  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire,  on  this  subject.' 

"  [Several  senators.  '  Order — order.'] 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  '  I  do  not  intend  to  correct  his  statements.  A  man  who  says 
that  the  people  of  this  district  have  no  right  in  their  slaves,  and  that  it  is  no  rob 
bery  to  take  their  property  from  them,  is  not  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  in  posses 
sion  of  his  reason.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  It  is  an  extremely  novel  mode  of  terminating  a  controversy  by 
charitably  throwing  the  mantle  of  maniacal  irresponsibility  over  one's  antagonist ! 
But  the  honorable  senator  puts  words  into  my  mouth  which  I  never  used.  I  did 
not  say  that  the  owners  had  no  property  in  their  slaves.  I  said  that  the  institution 
exists ;  but  I  have  not  given  any  opinion  upon  the  point  to  which  the  senator  has 
alluded.  I  have  never  said  any  thing  from  which  the  sentiment  which  he  imputes 
to  me  could  be  inferred.  It  does  not  become  me,  I  know,  to  measure  arms  with 
the  honorable  senator  from  South  Carolina,  more  particularly  since  he  has  been 
so  magnanimous  as  to  give  notice  that  he  will  not  condescend  to  argue  with  me. 
But  there  is  more  than  one  man  in  this  country  who  has,  whether  justly  or  un 
justly,  long  since  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  that  if  I  am  a  maniac  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  I  am  not  a  monomaniac,  for  I  am  not  alone  in  my  madness.  But,  sir, 
I  am  not  responsible,  here  or  elsewhere,  for  the  excitement  that  has  followed  the 


JOSHUA   REED   GJDDINGS.  315 

introduction  of  this  subject.  I  Intended  simply  to  give  notice  of  a  bill  calculated 
to  meet  the  exigency.  The  honorable  senator  from  Florida  calls  upon  me  for 
proof  of  the  necessity  for  this  legislation^and  says  that  no  violence  has  been  com 
mitted  in  this  district.  I  don't  know  what  he  calls  violence.' 

"  Mr.  Westcott.  '  There  has  been  no  violence,  except  the  running  away  with 
some  negroes.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  'Well,  I  believe  that  some  hundreds  of  individuals  assembled  in 
front  of  a  printing-office  in  this  city,  and  assailed  the  building  with  missiles,  oblig 
ing  the  persons  engaged  in  their  usual  employment  to  abandon  their  legal  occu 
pation.  If  that  does  not  come  up  to  the  gentleman's  definition  of  violence,  I  do 
not  know  what  does.  I  was  desirous  of  introducing  this  subject  without  an  ap 
peal  to  any  matters  which  might  be  supposed  to  lio  behind.  I  believe  that  these 
matters  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  subject  under  consideration.  But  other  gen 
tlemen  have  chosen  to  give  this  subject  a  different  direction.  Now,  in  the  bill 
which  I  have  had  the  honor  to  introduce,  the  provisions  are  almost  identical  with 
the  law  which  has  been  in  existence  in  many  of  the  states,  and  is  now  on  the  stat 
ute-book  of  Maryland.  To  its  enactment  here,  exception  has  been  taken  ;  and  I 
am  quite  willing  that  the  country  should  know  the  grounds  on  which  opposition 
is  made.  If  the  subject  be  painful,  it  has  not  been  made  so  by  me.  As  to  the 
threats  which  have  been  made  of  bloodshed  and  assassination,  I  can  only  say  that 
there  have  been  sacrifices  already,  and  there  may  be  other  victims,  until  the  minds 
of  all  shall  be  awakened  to  the  conviction  that  the  Constitution  was  made  as  well 
for  the  preservation  of  the  freedom  of  discussion  as  for  the  protection  of  the  slave 
owner.' 

"  Mr.  Westcott.  '  I  should  like  to  know  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  if 
he  can  say  that  any  non-slaveholding  state  in  this  Union  has  passed  a  law  by  which, 
in  case  of  the  abduction  of  a  slave  by  an  abolition  mob,  the  county  or  town  is  to 
be  made  responsible  for  the  act?' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  I  do  not  know,  sir.' 

"  Mr.  Westcott.  '  It  is  time  enough,  then,  when  such  a  law  is  passed  to  protect 
the  property  of  slave-owners,  to  talk  of  a  law  to  indemnify  for  the  destruction  of 
property  of  abolition  incendiaries.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  The  senator  seems  to  suppose  that  I  wished  to  decoy  him  to  the 
State  of  Mississippi.  I  have  attempted  no  such  thing.  I  have  thought  of  no  such 
thing.  I  have  openly  challenged  him  to  present  himself  there,  or  any  where,  ut 
tering  such  language  and  breathing  such  an  incendiary  spirit  as  he  has  manifested 
in  this  body,  and  I  have  said  that  just  punishment  would  be  inflicted  upon  him 
for  his  enormous  criminality.  I  have  said  further,  that,  if  necessary,  I  would  aid 
in  the  infliction  of  the  punishment.  My  opinion  is,  that  enlightened  men  would 
sanction  that  punishment. 

"  '  But,  says  the  senator,  that  would  be  assassination !  I  think  not.  I  am  sure 
that  the  senator  is  an  enemy  to  the  Constitution  of  his  country — an  enemy  of  one 
of  the  institutions  of  his  country,  which  is  solemnly  guarantied  by  the  organic 
law  of  the  land  ;  and  in  so  far,  he  is  a  lawless  person.  I  am  sure,  if  he  would  go 
to  the  State  of  Mississippi,  or  any  other  slave  state  of  this  Confederacy,  and  utter 
such  language,  he  would  justly  be  regarded  as  an  incendiary  in  heart  and  in  fact, 
and,  as  such,  guilty  of  the  attempt  to  involve  the  South  in  bloodshed,  violence, 
and  desolation;  and  if  the  arm  of  the  law  happened  to  be  too  short,  or  the  spirit 
of  the  law  to  be  slumberous,  I  have  declared  that  the  duty  of  the  people,  whose 
rights  were  thus  put  in  danger,  would  be  to  inflict  summary  punishment  upon  the 
offender.  But,  says  the  senator,  victims  have  been  made,  and  there  are  other  vic 
tims  ready.  I  am  sure  that  he  could  not  persuade  me  that  he  would  ever  be  a 
victim.  I  have  never  deplored  the  death  of  such  victims,  and  I  never  shall  de- 


316  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

plore  it.  Such  officious  intermeddling  deserved  its  fate.  I  believe  no  good  man, 
who  is  not  a  maniac,  as  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  is  apprehended  to  be, 
can  have  any  sympathy  for  those  who  lawlessly  interfere  with  the  rights  of  others. 
He,  however,  will  never  be  a  victim !  He  is  one  of  those  gusty  declaimers — a 
windy  speaker — a — ' 

"Mr.  Crittenden.  'If  the  gentleman  will  allow  me,  I  rise  to  a  question  of  or 
der.  Gentlemen  have  evidently  become  excited,  and  I  hear  on  alludes  language 
that  is  not  becoming.  I  call  the  gentleman  to  order  for  his  personal  reference  to 
the  senator  from  New  Hampshire.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  I  only  said,  in  reply  to  the  remarks  of  the  senator  from  New 
Hampshire — ' 

"  Mr.  Crittenden,  '  I  did  not  hear  what  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  said, 
but  the  allusion  of  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi  I  consider  to  be  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  Senate.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  I  am  aware  of  that.  But  such  a  scene  has  never  occurred,  in  the 
Senate — such  a  deadly  assailment  of  the  rights  of  the  country.' 

"  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Maryland.  'Has  the  chair  decided?' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  'Let  my  words  be  taken  down.' 

"  The  presiding  officer.  '  In  the  opinion  of  the  chair,  the  gentleman  from  Mis 
sissippi  is  not  in  order.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  What  portion  of  my  remarks  is  not  in  order  ?' 

"The  presiding  officer.  '  The  gentleman  is  aware  that  the  question  of  order  is 
not  debatable.' 

"  Mr.  Westcott.  '  I  ask  whether  the  words  objected  to  are  not,  according  to  the 
rule,  to  be  reduced  to  writing?' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  I  pass  it  over.  But  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  has  said, 
that  if  I  would  visit  that  state,  I  would  be  treated  to  an  argument.  Why,  I  would 
not  argue  with  him !  What  right  have  they  of  New  Hampshire  to  argue  upon 
this  point?  It  is  not  a  matter  with  which  they  stand  in  the  least  connected. 
They  have  no  rights  of  property  of  this  description,  and  I  rejoice  to  be  able  to  say 
that  a  large  portion  of  the  intelligent  and  patriotic  people  of  New  Hampshire  do 
not  concur  in  the  views  expressed  by  the  senator  this  morning.  They  take  the 
ground  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  the  Constitution,  and  the  Union,  have 
guarantied  the  rights  of  the  South,  connected  with  this  property,  and  that  the 
people  of  New  Hampshire  have  no  right  at  all  to  meddle  with  the  subject.  Why, 
is  it  not  a  fact,  that  gentlemen,  members  of  the  body — among  them,  the  dis 
tinguished  senator  from  Massachusetts,  whom  I  regret  not  to  see  in  his  place — 
are  known  to  be  more  or  less  hostile  to  the  institutions  of  domestic  slavery,  but 
have  never  entertained  the  doctrine  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
any  jurisdiction  whatever  over  the  subject?  They  have  held  that  any  attempt, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  effect  abolition  or  to  encourage  abolition,  by  congres 
sional  legislation,  is  at  war  with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  Constitution.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  Will  the  senator  allow  me  to  inquire  if  he  can  point  out  a  single 
instance  in  which  I  have  made  any  aggression  upon  the  rights  of  property  in  the 
South  ?' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  That  is  the  very  thing  I  am  about  to  show.  When  the  senator 
from  New  Hampshire  undertakes  to  assert  that  those  Northern  men  who  do  not 
concur  with  him  are  "cravens,"  he  uses  language  of  false  and  scurrilous  import. 
It  is  not  the  faot  that  his  language  will  be  re-echoed  in  any  respectable  neighbor 
hood  in  New  England.  His  sentiments  will  find  no  response  or  approval  in  any 
enlightened  vicinage  in  New  England  :  and,  therefore,  he  has  no  right  to  say  that 
those  who  are  faithful  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution,  and  fail  to  re-echo  the 
fierce,  fanatical,  and  factious  declarations  of  the  senator,  are  "  cravens"  in  heart, 


JOSHUA  REED  GID DINGS.         317 

and  deficient  in  any  of  the  noble  sentiments  which  characterize  high-spirited  Re 
publicans.'    - 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  I  did  not  use  such  language.' 
"  Mr.  Foote.  '  Did  the  senator  not  use  the  word  "  craven?"  ' 
"  Mr.  Hale.  '  If  the  senator  will  allow  me,  I  will  inform  him  that,  when  the 
senator  from  South  Carolina  remarked  that  he  supposed  it  was  thought  that  the 
Soijth  had  lost  all  feeling,  I  replied  by  asking  if  it  was  supposed  that  the  North 
had  no  sensibility;  that  we  had  bowed  our  faces  to  the  earth,  with  our  backs  to 
the  sun,  and  submitted  to  the  lash  so  long  that  we  dared  not  look  up?' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  The  declarations  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  just  amount 
to  this:  that  if  he  met  me  on  the  highway,  and,  addressing  me  gravely  or  humor 
ously — for  he  is  quite  a  humorous  personage — should  say,  I  design  to  take  that 
horse  which  is  now  in  your  possession,  and  then  announce  that  he  wished  to  en 
ter  into  an  argument  with  me  as  to  whether  I  should  prefer  that  the  animal  should 
be  stolen  from  the  stable  or  taken  from  me  on  the  road,  how  could  I  meet  such 
a  proposition  ?  Why,  I  should  say  to  him,  either  you  are  a  maniac,  or,  if  sane, 
you  are  a  knave.  And  yet  this  very  case  is  now  before  us.  The  senator  from 
New  Hampshire  introduces  a  bill  obviously  intended  to  rob  the  people  of  the 
district  of  their  slaves.  I  will  read  it,  and  show  that  such  is  the  import  of  the 
bill.  I  do  not  know  any  thing  about  the  paper  to  which  reference  has  been  made. 
It  has  been  sent  to  me,  as  to  other  senators,  during  the  winter ;  but  I  always  re 
frain  from  opening  it.  The  editor  of  it  may  be  an  intelligent  man.  I  have  heard 
that  he  is.  He  is  certainly  an  Abolitionist.  It  may  be  that  he  has  not  in  his  paper 
openly  avowed,  as  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  seems  veiy  plainly  to  indi 
cate,  that  he  has  approved  of  this  late  attempt  to  steal  the  slaves  from  this  district. 
But  the  publication  of  such  a  paper  has  tended  to  encourage  such  movements.' 
"  Mr.  Hale.  '  When  did  I  avow  that  I  approved  of  this  movement?' 
"  Mr.  Foote.  '  I  will  show  it  from  this  bill.  I  challenge  the  senator  to  produce 
any  such  statute  from  the  statute-book  of  any  state  of  this  Union.' 

"  Mr.  Hale.  '  I  have  said  that  the  bill  is  in  substance  identical  with  one  of  the 
statutes  of  the  State  of  Maryland.  I  have  that  statute  before  me,  and  will  hand 
it  to  the  senator.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  How  are  we  to  understand  the  senator.  He  will  not  acknowl 
edge  that  his  object  is  to  encourage  such  conduct,  and  he  shuns  the  responsibility. 
When  we  charge  upon  him  that  he  himself  has  breathed,  in  the  course  of  his 
harangue  of  this  morning,  the  same  spirit  which  has  characterized  this  act,  he 
says,  most  mildly  and  quietly,  "  By  no  means ;  I  have  only  attempted  to  introduce 
a  bill  corresponding  substantially  with  the  law  on  the  statute-books  of  the  states 
of  this  confederacy."  And  the  senator  supposes  that  all  of  us  are  perfectly  de 
mented,  or  do  not  know  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  circumstances,  or  the  motives 
which  have  actuated  the  senator.  Will  he  undertake  to  assert  that  he  would  have 
ever  heard  of  such  a  bill  if  these  slaves  had  not  been  abducted  from  the  district, 
in  opposition  to  the  consent  of  their  owners,  by  the  parties  engaged  in  this  ma 
rauding  expedition?  He  can  not  deny  it;  and,  therefore,  I  am  authorized  to 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  introduced  the  bill  for  the  purpose  of  covering 
and  protecting  that  act,  and  encouraging  similar  acts  in  future.  What  is  the 
phraseology  of  the  bill?  (The  honorable  senator  here  read  the  bill.)  Who 
doubts  now  that  the  object  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  was  to  secure 
the  captain  of  vessels  and  others  engaged  in  any  attempts  by  violence  to  capture 
and  steal  the  slaves  of  this  district  ?  No  man  can  doubt  it.  Then,  I  ask,  have  I 
used  language  too  harsh  ?  and  is  it  not  a  fact  that  the  senator  is  endeavoring  to 
evade  a  responsibility  which  he  is  not  willing  to  acknowledge?' 

"  Mr.  Hale  here  read  an  extract  from  the  law  of  Maryland,  passed  in  1836,  to 


318  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

which  he  had  referred,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  its  identity  with  the  bill  now 
introduced  by  him. 

"  The  honorable  senator  will  surely  now  do  me  the  justice  to  say  that  the  bill 
was  not  drafted  with  reference  to  any  particular  case,  such  as  that  to  which  he 
refers.  I  had  not  the  remotest  reference  to  the  protection  of  individuals  concern 
ed  in  transactions  of  that  character ;  but  if  I  should  undertake  to  say  that  I  had 
not  reference  to  demonstrations  growing  out  of  that  transaction,  I  should  be  say 
ing  what  was  false,  for  it  was  these  demonstrations  which  induced  me  to  intro 
duce  the  bill.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  In  one  breath,  the  senator  makes  two  directly  contradictory  as 
sertions.  He  says  that  he  did  not  draw  the  bill  in  reference  to  this  case,  and  in 
the  same  breath  declares  that  he  did !  He  disclaims  in  one  moment  that  which 
he  avows  in  the  next !  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
Senate  so  long.  I  have  felt  deeply  on  this  subject.  We  have  witnessed  this 
morning  the  first  attempt  on  this  floor  to  violate  the  constitutional  rights  of  the 
South,  and  I  hope  it  will  be  the  last.  I  trust  that  the  indignation  of  the  country 
will  be  so  roused,  that  even  in  the  quarter  of  the  country  from  which  he  comes, 
the  senator  from  New  Hampshire,  although  his  sensibilities  are  not  very  approach 
able,  will  be  made  to  feel  ashamed  of  his  conduct.' 

"  Mr.  Mangum.  '  It  has  been  now  about  fourteen  years,  I  believe,  since  the 
Senate,  very  wisely,  by  the  concurrence  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  men 
on  both  sides,  came  to  the  resolution  to  exclude  discussion  upon  the  inflaming 
topic  of  slavery;  and  that  when  abolition  petitions  were  presented,  upon  the 
question  of  reception  a  motion  should  be  entertained,  which  motion  is  not  de 
batable,  and  the  vote  taken  upon  it  to  lay  the  motion  for  reception  upon  the 
table.  There  has  been,  ever  since  this  rule  was  established,  a  steady,  uniform  ad 
herence  to  it ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  perceive  that  there  is  latterly  a  disposition  mani 
festing  itself  to  depart  from  the  salutary  rule  of  action  which  the  Senate  thus  wise 
ly  prescribed  for  itself.  Upon  this  question  of  slavery  we  know  there  are  different 
opinions  entertained  in  different  quarters  of  the  Union.  I  stand  here  represent 
ing  the  interests  of  one  portion  of  that  Union ;  but  I  could  not,  if  I  would,  bring 
myself  to  a  state  of  excitement  and  alarm  in  consequence  of  any  menaces  that 
might  be  thrown  out.  I  stand  upon  the  constitutional  compromises ;  and  while 
I  would  not  invade  the  rights  of  others,  I  am  very  sure  that  the  sound  portion  of 
the  community  will  not  invade  our  rights.  Why  should  we  pursue  this  discus 
sion  ?  Is  it  believed  that  we  are  to  be  reasoned  out  of  our  rights  ?  No,  sir.  Then 
why  discuss  the  subject  ?  Why  not  stand  upon  our  rights — upon  our  constitutional 
compromises  ?  Why  not  stand  thus  perfectly  passionless,  but  prepared  to  defend 
them  when  they  shall  be  assailed?  But  are  they  to  be  assailed?  Sir,  nothing 
has  occurred  during  this  session  that  has  afforded  me  more  satisfaction  than  to 
hear  from  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  distinguished  men  in  this  Union  the  dec 
laration  that,  while  they  are  opposed  to  an  extension  of  the  area  of  slavery,  they 
are  not  disposed  to  trample  upon  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution.  This  is 
our  strength.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  patriotism  of  those  who  love  the  institu 
tions  of  our  country  better  than  party.  I  believe  the  great  body  of  the  people  are 
prepared  to  stand  upon  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  upon  this 
ground  that  I  stand  content  and  passionless ;  and,  if  I  know  myself,  I  shall  ever 
continue  to  do  so. 

"  '  Sir,  no  good  can  result  from  this  discussion.  I  shall  vote  against  the  recep 
tion  of  the  bill  at  this  time.  And  why  ?  Because  I  think  that  the  occasion  which 
is  selected  for  its  introduction  is  a  very  unhappy  one.  It  seems  to  grow  out  of 
the  occurrence  of  an  unwarrantable  trespass  recently  committed  upon  the  rights 
of  the  citizens  of  this  district,  without  being  directed  to  the  prevention  of  such 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  319 

aggressions  in  future ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  having  for  its  object  the  suppression 
of  the  manifestations  of  the  feelings  of  indignation  which  such  acts  naturally  create. 
We,  who  are  the  only  legislators  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  are  not  informed  of 
their  wants  and  wishes  in  regard  to  legislation  upon  this  subject.  If  the  people 
of  this  district  require  any  other  laws  than  they  already  have,  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  their  property  against  unlawful  violence,  let  them  indicate  to  us  their 
wishes,  and  I  shall  be  ready  to  lend  a  willing  ear  to.  their  request,  and  to  aid  in 
passing  such  a  law  as,  in  my  judgment,  may  be  necessary  for  their  protection. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  citizens  of  this  district  should  require  other  and  more 
penal  laws  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  their  slave  property,  I  shall  be  as  ready 
to  vote  for  a  bill  for  that  purpose ;  but  I  shall  never  vote  for  the  one  nor  the 
other  when  I  find  them  pressed  forward  by  gentlemen  of  extreme  opinions — 
gentlemen  from  remote  portions  of  the  Union,  having  few  feelings  in  common  with 
the  citizens  of  the  district. 

" '  Sir,  upon  these  subjects  I  am  accustomed  to  look  to  the  silent  operation  of 
the  law  for  the  protection  of  all  our  rights.  In  the  state  from  which  I  come,  there 
is  no  excitement  in  regard  to  these  subjects.  If  I  know  any  thing  of  the  charac 
ter  of  that  loyal,  steady,  fixed,  and  moderate  state,  there  is  no  state  in  the  Union 
which  will  hold  to  her  principles  and  her  rights  with  more  firmness  than  that  state. 
But  we  appeal  to  the  silent  operation  of  the  law ;  we  know  nothing  of  mob  law 
or  of  Lynch  law ;  we  know  nothing  of  excesses  of  this  description.  Although  I 
have  lived  to  be  an  old  man,  most  of  the  time  in  North  Carolina,  I  have  never  seen 
any  thing  in  that  state  approximating  even  to  a  spirit  of  popular  tumult.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  Will  the  honorable  senator  allow  me  to  ask  him  whether,  in  tho 
case  of  a  conspiracy  to  excite  insurrection  among  the  slaves,  it  would  not,  in  his 
opinion,  justify  mob  proceedings?' 

"  Mr.  Mangum.  '  Oh !  my  dear  sir,  in  former  years  we  had  a  compendious  mode 
of  disposing  of  such  cases.  We  have  now  a  mode  equally  certain,  though  not 
so  compendious.  Upon  a  matter  of  that  nature,  we  take  a  strong  ground.  But  I 
am  not  to  be  driven  hastily  into  legislation  that  is  proposed  by  gentlemen  who  en 
tertain  extreme  opinions  on  either  side.  I  am  accustomed  to  look  to  the  people 
of  the  district  for  an  exposition  of  their  wants  in  regard  to  legislation.  They  nee 
essarily  understand  them  better  than  we  can  do.  Upon  their  suggestion  I  am 
prepared  to  act,  either  in  providing  penal  enactments  for  the  protection  of  their 
slave  property,  or  for  protecting  other  descriptions  of  property  from  mob  violence. 
I  do  not  intend  to  enter  into  the  question  as  to  the  propriety  of  making  property 
holders,  to  some  extent,  answerable  for  any  damage  that  may  accrue  from  such 
violence,  where  they  have  a  police  in  existence.  I  understand  that  in  Maryland 
they  have  such  a  law  applicable  to  towns  and  cities  where  they  have  a  police. 
But,  entertaining  the  views  I  do — believing  that  this  movement  is  wholly  inexpe 
dient  on  this  occasion — having  no  evidence  that  it  would  be  proper  on  any  occa 
sion,  but  perceiving  that  the  proposed  measure  has  grown  out  of  excitement — I 
move  that  the  motion  for  leave  to  introduce  the  bill  lie  upon  the  table,  and  upon 
that  question  I  ask  for  the  yeas  and  nays.' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  '  Will  the  senator  be  good  enough  to  withdraw  that  motion  for 
a  moment?' 

"  Mr.  Mangum.  '  Certainly.' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  '  If  there  is  any  responsibility  in  regard  to  this  question,  that  re 
sponsibility  is  on  me.' 

"  Mr.  Mangum.  '  No,  sir,  I  do  not  take  it  so.  I  feel  that  the  responsibility  is 
upon  the  inopportune  presentment  of  a  bill  of  this  sort,  so  soon  after  the  transac 
tions  which  have  recently  taken  place  in  the  district.  That  is  my  notion.  I  think 
the  responsibility  is  upon  the  introducer  of  such  a  measure  at  a  time  when  ex 
citement  exists  all  around  us.' 


320  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  '  I  am  very  happy  to  hear  that  such  is  the  opinion  of  the  hon 
orable  senator;  but  I  disagree  with  my  worthy  friend,  the  senator  from  North 
Carolina,  in  several  particulars.  .  I  do  not  look  upon  a  state  of  excitement  as  a 
dangerous  state.  On  the  contrary,  I  look  upon  it  as  having  often  a  most  whole 
some  tendency.  The  state  to  be  apprehended  as  dangerous  in  any  community  is 
this:  that  when  there  is  a  great  and  growing  evil  in  existence,  the  community 
should  be  in  a  cold  and  apathetic  state.  Nations  are  much  more  apt  to  perish  in 
consequence  of  such  a  state  than  through  the  existence  of  heat  and  excitement. 
Nor  do  I  agree  with  the  senator  from  North  Carolina  in  thinking  that  this  is  an. 
analogous  case  to  that  of  the  question  as  to  the  reception  of  petitions  on  the  sub 
ject  of  slavery ;  for  we  all  know  that  in  reference  to  the  latter,  the  question  was 
whether  the  Senate  was  not  bound  to  receive  petitions  in  all  cases  and  on  all  sub 
jects.  Now  here  is  a  case  in  which  there  is  no  doubt  whatever.  All  admit  that 
the  question  of  granting  leave  is  a  question  depending  upon  the  voice  of  the  Sen 
ate  as  a  matter  of  discretion :  there  is  no  question  of  right  whatever.  Now  I 
submit  to  the  senator  from  North  Carolina  whether,  under  the  circumstances,  a 
bill  of  this  kind,  introduced  at  such  a  moment,  to  subject  the  worthy  citizens  of 
this  district  to  a  high  penalty,  without  containing  a  single  clause  for  the  punish 
ment  of  those  who  commit  outrages  upon  them,  and  deprive  them  of  their  prop 
erty — without  a  single  expression  against  such  marauders — must  not  be  consid 
ered  a  most  extraordinary  measure,  let  it  come  from  whatsoever  quarter  it  may  ? 
Can  any  man  doubt  that,  whether  intended  or  not,  the  object  of  this  bill  is  to  dis 
arm  the  worthy  citizens  of  this  district,  so  as  to  prevent  them  from  defending  their 
property,  and  to  arm  the  robbers  ?  That  is  the  whole  amount  of  it.  The  Con 
gress  of  this  Union  is  the  Legislature  of  the  District  of  Columbia ;  and  what  is  our 
duty  on  this  occasion?  It  is  to  protect  these  our  constituents,  who  have  no  other 
protection  but  ours.  It  is  our  duty  to  stand  forward  in  their  behalf  when  the  ex 
traordinary  spectacle  is  presented  to  us  of  a  vessel  coming  to  our  wharves  under  the 
color  of  commerce,  and  of  the  men  belonging  to  that  vessel  silently  seducing  away 
our  slaves,  and  getting  nearly  a  hundred  of  them  on  board,  and  then  moving  off 
with  them  under  cover  of  the  night,  in  order  to  convey  them  beyond  our  reach. 
What  is  our  duty  under  these  circumstances  ?  Is  it  not  to  take  up  the  subject,  as 
1  trust  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  will  do,  and  pass  a  bill  containing  the  high 
est  penalties  known  to  the  law  against  pirates  who  are  guilty  of  acts  like  these  ? 

" '  I  differ  also  from  my  honorable  friend  from  North  Carolina  in  this  respect. 
He  seems  to  think  that  the  proper  mode  of  meeting  this  great  question  of  differ 
ence  between  the  two  sections  of  the  Union  is  to  let  it  go  on  silently — not  to  no 
tice  it  at  all — to  have  no  excitement  about  it.  I  differ  from  him  altogether.  I 
have  examined  this  subject  certainly  with  as  much  care  as  my  abilities  would  en 
able  me,  and  if  I  am  not  greatly  deceived — if  I  have  any  capacity  to  perceive 
what  is  coming,  I  give  it  as  my  most  deliberate  opinion,  that  if  such  course  is  pur 
sued  on  our  part,  and  the  activity  of  those  influences  on  the  other  side  be  permit 
ted  to  go  on,  the  result  of  the  whole  will  be  that  we  shall  have  St.  Domingo  over 
again.  Yes,  and  worse  than  that.  Now,  sir,  we  have  been  asleep ;  and,  so  far 
from  the  thing  being  stationary,  it  is  advancing  rapidly  from  year  to  year.  What 
has  taken  place  within  the  last  few  weeks  in  the  Legislature  of  New  York  ?  There 
is  a  provision  in  the  Constitution  protective  of  the  rights  of  the  South  on  this  sub 
ject  ;  and  what  is  it  ?  That  the  states  shall  deliver  up  fugitive  slaves  that  are 
found  within  their  limits.  It  is  a  stipulation  in  the  nature  of  an  extradition  treaty 
— I  mean  a  treaty  for  delivering  up  fugitives  from  justice.  Now,  what  duty  does 
this  impose  upon  the  states  of  this  Union  ?  It  imposes  upon  them,  upon  the  known 
principles  of  the  law  of  nations,  an  active  co-operation  on  the  part  of  their  Legisla 
ture,  citizens,  and  magistrates,  in  seizing  and  delivering  up  slaves  who  have  es- 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  321 

f 

caped  from  their  owners.  What  has  been  done  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of 
New  York  ?  I  speak  on  the  statement  of  newspapers,  which  have  not  been  con 
tradicted.  They  have  passed  a  law  almost  unanimously — there  being  but  two 
votes  against  it — making  it  penal  for  a  citizen  of  that  state  even  to  aid  the  Federal 
officers  in  seizing  and  delivering  up  slaves.  They  not  only  do  not  co-operate — 
they  not  only  do  not  stand  neutral,  but  they  take  positive  and  active  measures  to 
violate  the  Constitution,  and  to  trample  upon  the  laws  of  the  Union ;  and  yet  we 
are  told  that  things  are  going  on  very  well,  and  will  go  on  well,  if  we  only  let 
them  alone ;  that  the  evil  will  cure  itself.  This  is  what  has  been  done  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  The  only  stipulation  in  the  Constitution  which  confers  any 
benefit  upon  us,  is,  without  the  least  regard  to  faith,  trodden  in  the  dust.  And 
New  York  stands  not  alone  in  this  matter ;  many  other  states  have  adopted  simi 
lar  measures.  Pennsylvania,  at  the  session  before  last,  adopted  one,  not  going  to 
this  extreme,  but  not  falling  greatly  short  of  it.  And  what  has  taken  place  under 
that  law  ?  A  most  worthy  citizen  of  Maryland,  upon  his  attempting  to  recapture 
his  slave,  is  murdered — that  is  the  proper  term — and  the  perpetrator  of  the  act 
goes  in  a  great  measure  unpunished.  There  was  a  trial,  and  some  one  may  have 
been  found  guilty,  but  little  was  done.  I  could  go  on  and  consume  the  whole  day 
in  tracing,  step  by  step,  the  course  by  which  every  stipulation  in  favor  of  this  de 
scription  of  property  has  been  set  at  naught  in  the  Northern  States.  Now,  if  all 
this  is  the  fact,  I  put  it  gravely  and  seriously  to  our  brethren  of  the  Northern 
States,  Can  this  thing  go  on  ?  Is  it  desirable  that  it  should  be  passed  without  con 
demnation?  Is  it  desirable  that  the  South  should  be  kept  ignorant  of  all  this? 
I  put  these  questions.  No,  no.  The  very  inaction  of  the  South  is  construed  into 
one  of  two  things — indifference  or  timidity.  And  it  is  this  construction  which 
has  produced  this  bold  and  rapid  movement  toward  the  ultimate  consummation 
of  all  this.  And  why  have  we  stood  and  done  nothing  ?  I  will  tell  you  why. 
Because  the  press  of  this  Union,  for  some  reason  or  other,  does  not  choose  to  notice 
this  thing.  One  section  does  not  know  what  the  other  section  is  doing.  The 
South  does  not  know  the  hundredth  part  of  all  that  has  been  done  at  the  North.. 
Now,  since  this  occurrence  has  taken  place,  a  suitable  occasion  is  presented  for 
gentlemen  to  rise  here  and  tell  the  whole  Union  what  is  doing.  It  is  for  the  in 
terest  of  the  North  as  well  as  the  South.  I  do  not  stand  here  as  a  Southern  man. 
I  stand  here  as  a  member  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Legislature  of  this  Union, 
loving  the  whole,  and  desiring  to  save  the  whole.  How  are  you  to  do  it?  It  can 
be  saved  only  by  justice  ;  and  how  is  justice  to  be  done  ?  By  the  fulfillment  of 
the  stipulations  of  the  Constitution.  I  ask  no  more ;  as  I  know  myself,  I  would 
not  ask  a  particle  that  did  not  belong  to  us,  either  in  our  individual  or  confedera 
ted  character.  But  less  than  that  I  never  will  take.  Sir,  I  hold  equality  among 
the  confederated  states  to  be  the  highest  point ;  and  any  portion  of  the  confedera 
ted  states  who  shall  permit  themselves  to  sink  to  a  point  of  inferiority — not  de 
fending  what  really  belo*l%s  to  them  as  members — sign  their  own  death-warrant ; 
and  in  signing  that,  sign  the  doom  of  the  whole.  Upon  the  just  maintenance  of 
our  rights,  not  only  our  safety  depends,  but  the  existence  and  safety  of  this  glori 
ous  Union  of  ours ;  and  I  hold  that  man  responsible,  and  that  state  responsible, 
who  do  not  raise  a  voice  against  every  known  and  clear  infraction  of  the  stipula 
tions  of  the  Constitution  in  their  favor.  This  is  a  proper  occasion,  and  I  hope 
there  will  be  a  full  expression  of  opinion  upon  it.  I  hope  my  friend  from  North 
Carolina  will  reconsider  his  motion,  and  not  press  it.  Let  us  meet  this  question 
at  once.' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  I  have  listened  to  this  debate  with  a  good  deal  of  interest.  But 
while  I  have  seen  considerable  excitement  exhibited  on  the  part  of  a  few  gentle 
men  around  me,  I  confess  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  work  myself  into  any  thing 

VOL.  I— X 


322  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

like  a  passion.  I  think  that,  probably,  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  has  done 
much  to  accomplish  his  object.  His  bill  is  a  very  harmless  thing  in  itself;  but, 
being  brought  forward  at  this  time,  and  under  the  present  circumstances,  it  has 
created  a  good  deal  of  excitement  among  gentlemen  on  this  side  of  the  chamber.' 
"  Mr.  Calhoun  (in  his  seat).  «  Not  the  bill— the  occurrence.' 
"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  On  the  occurrence  I  desire  to  say  a  word.  In  the  first  place, 
I  must  congratulate  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  on  the  great  triumph  which 
he  has  achieved.  He  stands  very  prominently  before  the  American  people,  and 
is,  I  believe,  the  only  man  who  has  a  national  nomination  for  the  presidency.  I 
firmly  believe  that,  on  this  floor  to-day,  by  the  aid  of  the  senator  from  South  Car 
olina  and  the  senator  from  Mississippi,  he  has  more  than  doubled  his  vote  at  the 
presidential  election,  and  every  man  in  this  chamber  from  a  free  state  knows  it. 
I  looked  on  with  amazement,  for  a  time,  to  see  whether  there  could  be  an  under 
standing  between  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  and  his  Southern  friends,  cal 
culated  to  give  him  encouragement,  strength,  and  power  in  the  contest.  But  I 
know  that  those  distinguished  senators  from  the  South,  to  whom  I  have  referred, 
are  incapable  of  such  an  understanding;  yet  I  tell  them  that,  if  they  had  gone  into 
a  caucus  with  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire,  and,  after  a  night's  study  and  delib 
eration,  had  devised  the  best  means  to  manufacture  abolitionism  and  abolition  votes 
in  the  North,  they  would  have  fallen  upon  precisely  the  same  kind  of  procedure 
which  they  have  adopted  to-day.  A  few  such  exciting  scenes  sufficed  to  send  that 
senator  here.  I  mean  no  disrespect  to  him  personally ;  but  I  say,  with  his  sentiments 
— with  his  principles,  he  could  never  have  represented  a  free  state  of  this  Union 
on  this  floor  but  for  the  aid  of  Southern  speeches.  It  is  the  speeches  of  South 
ern  men,  representing  slave  states,  going  to  an  extreme — breathing  a  fanaticism 
as  wild  aud  as  reckless  as  that  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire,  which  creates 
abolitionism  in  the  North.  The  extremes  meet.  It  is  no  other  than  Southern 
senators  acting  in  concert,  and  yet  without  design,  that  produces  abolition.' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  '  Does  the  gentleman  pretend  to  say  that  myself,  and  South 
ern  gentlemen  who  act  with  me  upon  this  occasion,  are  fanatics  1  Have  we  done 
any  thing  more  than  defend  our  rights,  encroached  upon  at  the  North  ?  Am  I  to 
understand  the  senator  that  we  make  abolition  votes  by  defending  our  rights  ?  If 
so,  I  thank  him  for  the  information,  and  do  not  care  how  many  such  votes  we 
make.' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  Well,  I  will  say  to  the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  and  every 
other  senator  from  the  South,  that  far  be  it  from  me  to  entertain  the  thought  that 
they  design  to  create  Abolitionists  in  the  North  or  elsewhere.  Far  be  it  from  me 
to  impute  any  such  design !  Yet  I  assert  that  such  is  the  only  inevitable  effect  of 
their  conduct.' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun  (in  his  seat).  '  We  are  only  defending  ourselves.' 

"Mr.  Douglas.  'No,  they  are  not  defending  themselves.!  They  suffer  them 
selves  to  become  excited  upon  this  question — to  discus^4t  with,  a  degree  of  heat, 
and  give  it  an  importance,  which  makes  it  heard  and  felt  throughout  the  Union. 
It  is  thus  that  abolition  derives  its  vitality.  My  friend  from  Mississippi  (Mr 
Foote),  in  his  zeal  and  excitement  this  morning,  made  a  remark  in  the  invitation 
which  he  extended  to  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  to  visit  Mississippi,  which 
is  worth  ten  thousand  votes  to  the  senator ;  and  I  am  confident  that  that  senator 
would  not  allow  my  friend  to  retract  that  remark  for  ten  thousand  votes.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  Will  you  allow  me  ?' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  Certainly.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  If  the  effect  of  that  remark  will  be  to  give  to  that  senator  all  the 
abolition  votes,  he  is  fairly  entitled  to  them.  Had  the  senator  from  Illinois  lived 
where  I  have  resided— had  he  seen  insurrection  exhibiting  its  fiery  front  in  the 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  323 

midst  of  the  men,  women,  and  children  of  the  community — had  he  had  reason  to 
believe  that  the  machinery  of  insurrection  was  at  such  a  time  in  readiness  for  pur 
poses  of  the  most  deadly  character,  involving  life,  and  that  dearer  than  life,  to  ev 
ery  Southern  man — had  he  witnessed  such  scenes,  and  believed  that  movements 
like  that  of  this  morning  were  calculated  to  engender  feelings  out  of  which  were 
to  arise  fire,  blood,  and  desolation — the  destruction  finally  of  the  South,  he  would 
regard  himself  as  a  traitor  to  the  best  sentiments  of  the  human  heart  if  he  did 
not  speak  out  the  language  of  manly  denunciation.  I  can  use  no  other  language. 
I  can  not  but  repeat  my  conviction,  that  any  man  who  dares  to  utter  such  senti 
ments  as  those  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire,  and  attempts  to  act  them  out 
anywhere  in  the  sunny  South,  will  meet  death  upon  the  scaffold,  and  deserves  it !' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  I  must  again  congratulate  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  on 
the  accession  of  five  thousand  votes.  Sir,  I  do  not  blame  the  senator  from  Mis 
sissippi  for  being  indignant  at  any  man  from  any  portion  of  this  Union  who  would 
produce  an  incendiary  excitement — who  would  kindle  the  flame  of  civil  war— 
who  would  incite  a  negro  insurrection,  hazarding  the  life  of  any  man  in  the  South 
ern  States.  The  senator  has,  I  am  aware,  reason  to  feel  deeply  on  this  subject. 
But  I  am  not  altogether  unacquainted  with  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  sec 
tions  of  the  country  to  which  he  has  alluded.  I  have  lived  a  good  portion  of  my 
life  upon  the  immediate  borders  of  a  slave  state.  I  have  seen  the  operation  of 
such  excitements  as  those  of  which  he  speaks  upon  both  sides  of  the  line.  I 
can  well  appreciate  the  excited  feeling  with  which  gentlemen  in  the  South  must 
regard  any  agitating  movement  to  get  up  insurrections  among  their  negro  servants.' 

"  Mr.  Davis,  of  Mississippi.  '  I  do  not  wish  to  be  considered  as  participating  in 
the  feeling  to  which  the  senator  alludes.  I  have  no  fear  of  insurrection,  no  more 
than  I  have  of  my  cattle.  I  do  not  dread  such  incendiaries.  Our  slaves  are  hap 
py  and  contented.  They  sustain  the  happiest  relation  that  labor  can  sustain  to 
capital.  It  is  a  paternal  institution.  They  are  rendered  miserable  only  by  the 
unwarrantable  interference  of  those  who  know  nothing  about  that  with  which 
they  meddle.  I  rest  this  case  in  no  fear  of  insurrection  ;  and  I  wish  it  to  be  dis 
tinctly  understood,  that  we  are  able  to  take  care  of  ourselves,  and  to  punish  all  in 
cendiaries.  It  was  the  insult  offered  to  the  institutions  which  we  have  inherited 
that  provoked  my  indignation.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  Will  the  honorable  senator  allow  me  to  make  a  remark?' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  With  great  pleasure.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  If  it  be  understood  that  I  expressed  any  fear  of  an  insurrection 
which  might  grow  out  of  this  movement,  it  is  a  mistake.  I  said  that  such  an  au 
dacious  movement  as  this  could  not  be  tamely  submitted  to,  without  encouraging 
its  authors  to  proceed ;  and  in  that,  I  think,  all  who  have  spoken  on  this  side  of 
the  chamber  concur.' 

"  Mr.  Davis,  of  Mississippi.  '  I  did  not  intend  to  imply  that  my  colleague  had 
taken  any  such  course  as  that  which  I  disclaimed.' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  All  that  I  intended  to  say  was,  that  the  effect  of  this  excite 
ment — of  all  these  harsh  expressions — will  be  the  creation  of  Abolitionists  at  the 
North.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  The  more  the  better.' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  The  gentleman  may  think  so,  but  some  of  us  at  the  North  do 
not  concur  with  him  in  that  opinion.  Of  course,  the  senator  from  New  Hamp 
shire  will  agree  with  him,  because  he  can  fan  the  flame  of  excitement  so  as  to  ad 
vance  his  political  prospects.  And  I  can  also  well  understand  how  some  gentlemen 
at  the  South  may  quite  complacently  regard  all  this  excitement,  if  they  can  per 
suade  their  constituents  to  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  rests  upon  their 
shoulders — that  they  are  the  men  who  meet  the  Goliath  of  the  North  in  this  great 


324  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

contest  about  abolition.  It  gives  them  strength  at  home.  But  we  of  the  North, 
who  have  no  sympathy  with  the  Abolitionists,  desire  no  such  excitement.' 

"  Mr.  Calhoun.  '  I  must  really  object  to  the  remarks  of  the  senator.  We  are 
merely  defending  our  rights.  Suppose  that  we  defend  them  in  strong  language  ; 
have  we  not  a  right  to  do  so  ?  Surely  the  senator  can  not  mean  to  impute  to  us 
the  motives  of  low  ambition.  He  can  not  realize  our  position.  For  myself  (and 
I  presume  I  may  speak  for  those  who  act  with  me),  we  place  this  question  upon 
high  and  exalted  grounds.  Long  as  he  may  have  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of 
slaveholding  states,  he  can  not  have  realized  any  thing  on  the  subject.  I  must 
object  entirely  to  Iris  course,  and  say  that  it  is  at  least  as  offensive  as  that  of  the 
senator  from  New  Hampshire.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  Will  the  senator  from  Illinois  allow  me  a  word  ?' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  In  a  moment.  I  am  sorry  that  the  honorable  senator  regards 
my  language  as  offensive  as  that  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire.  Will  he 
allow  me  to  remark,  in  the  first  place,  that  I  did  not  suppose  that  I  should  ever 
be  classed  with  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  on  the  subject  of  slavery ;  and, 
in  the  next  place,  that  I  did  not  say  any  thing  disrespectful  to  the  senator  from 
South  Carolina,  or  any  one  associated  with  him  on  this  question.  I  did  not  im 
pugn  his  motives.  I  said  explicitly  that  I  did  not  regard  him  as  being  actuated 
by  any  but  the  purest  motives.  He  felt  indignant  at  the  recent  occurrences,  and 
his  indignation  I  regarded  as  being  natural  and  proper.  We  of  the  free  states 
share  in  that  indignation.  But  I  said  that  the  senator  from  South  Carolina,  by  the 
violent  course  pursued  here,  had  contributed  to  the  result  which  we  deplored, 
and  that  abolitionism  at  the  North  was  built  up  by  Southern  denunciation  and 
Southern  imprudence.  I  stated  that  there  were  men  of  the  North  who  are  ready 
to  take  advantage  of  that  imprudent  and  denunciatory  course,  and  turn  it  to  their 
own  account,  so  as  to  make  it  revert  upon  the  South.  I  announced  in  plain  terms 
that  truth — a  truth  which  every  man  from  the  free  states  can  fully  realize;  and, 
sir,  I  too  feel  upon  this  subject,  inasmuch  as  I  have  never  desired  to  enlist,  and 
never  shall  enlist,  under  the  banners  of  either  of  the  radical  factions  on  this  ques 
tion.  I  have  no  sympathy  for  abolitionism  on  the  one  side,  or  that  extreme  course 
on  the  other  which  is  akin  to  abolitionism.  We  are  not  willing  to  be  trodden 
down  while  you  hazard  nothing  by  your  violence,  which  only  builds  up  your  ad 
versary  in  the  North.  Nor  does  he  hazard  any  thing ;  quite  the  contrary ;  for  he 
will  thus  be  enabled  to  keep  concentrated  upon  himself  the  gaze  of  the  Abolition 
ists,  who  will  regard  him  as  the  great  champion  of  freedom  who  encounters  the 
distinguished  senator  from  South  Carolina  and  the  senator  from  Mississippi.  He 
is  to  be  upheld  at  the  North  because  he  is  the  champion  of  abolition,  and  you  are 
to  be  upheld  at  the  South  because  you  are  the  champion  who  meet  him ;  so  that 
it  comes  to  this,  that  between  these  two  ultra  parties,  we  of  the  North,  who  be 
long  to  neither,  are  thrust  aside.  Now  we  stand  up  for  all  your  constitutional 
rights,  in  which  we  will  protect  you  to  the  last.  We  go  for  the  punishment  of 
burglary,  stealing,  and  any  other  infringement  of  the  laws  of  this  district ;  and  if 
these  laws  be  not  strong  enough  to  prevent  or  punish  those  crimes,  we  will  give 
to  them  the  adequate  strength.  On  the  other  hand,  we  go  for  enforcing  the  law 
against  mobs,  and  any  destruction  of  property  by  them ;  and  if  the  law  be  not 
strong  enough  to  suppress  them,  we  will  strengthen  it.  But  we  protest  against 
being  made  instruments — puppets — in  this  slavery  excitement,  which  can  operate 
only  to  your  interest,  and  the  building  up  of  those  who  wish  to  put  you  down. 
I  believe,  sir,  that  in  all  this  I  have  spoken  the  sentiment  of  every  Northern  man 
who  is  not  an  Abolitionist.  My  object  was  to  express  my  deep  regret  that  any 
such  excitement  should  have  grown  out  of  the  introduction  of  this  bill.' 

"  Mr.  Foote.  '  I  had  supposed  that  I  had  already  sufficiently  explained  myself. 


STEPHEN   REED   GIDDINGS.  325 

No  Southern  man  has  ever  introduced  this  question  into  the  halls  of  legislation. 
Of  this  the  senator  must  be  well  aware.  If  he  knows  an  instance  to  the  contra 
ry,  I  should  be  extremely  glad  to  be  informed  of  it.  The  question  is  not  now- 
brought  up  by  any  movement  of  ours ;  it  is  forced  upon  us  by  the  senator  from 
New  Hampshire.  The  South  has  been  silent,  resting  firmly,  discreetly,  and  with 
dignity,  upon  her  rights  which  are  guarantied  to  us  by  the  Constitution.  It  is 
only  in  defense  of  her  acknowledged  rights  that  she  undertakes  to  say  any  thing. 
The  senator  from  New  Hampshire  has  now  introduced  a  bill  which  is  calculated 
to  produce  mischief.  Are  we  to  remain  silent?  Or,  if  we  use  language  of  just 
indignation,  are  we  to  be  charged  with  endeavoring  to  make  ourselves  popular  in 
the  Sputh  ?  Let  me  say  to  the  senator  from  Illinois  that  this  is  a  most  ungenerous 
proposition.  He  says  that  no  unworthy  motives  lie  at  the  foundation  of  this 
measure.  Why,  I  can  imagine  no  more  unworthy  motive  than  unprincipled  dem- 
agogism.  I  would  scorn  myself  if  I  could  for  a  moment  permit  myself  to  give 
countenance  to  any  thing  so  unworthy.  I  would  say,  with  all  possible  courtesy 
to  the  senator  from  Illinois,  for  whom  I  entertain  the  highest  respect,  and  whose 
general  feelings  of  justice  for  us  in  the  South  we  all  understand  and  appreciate — 
he  will  permit  me  to  say  to  him,  in  a  spirit  of  perfect  courtesy,  that  there  are  va 
rious  ways  of  becoming  popular.  Our  constituents  will  have  confidence  in  us  if 
they  see  we  are  ready  here  to  maintain  their  interests  inviolate.  And  it  may  be, 
also,  that  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  will  strengthen  himself  in  proportion 
as  his  conduct  is  denounced.  But  I  beg  the  senator  from  Illinois  to  recollect  that 
there  is  another  mode  of  obtaining  that  popularity  which  is  expressed  in  the  ad 
age,  "  In  me.dio  tutissimus  ibis,"  and  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  winning  golden 
opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people ;  and  it  may  be  that  a  man  of  mature  power, 
young,  and  aspiring  as  he  may  do  to  high  places,  may  conceive  that,  by  keeping 
clear  of  all  union  with  the  two  leading  factions,  he  will  more  or  less  strengthen 
himself  with  the  great  body  of  the  American  people,  and  thus  attain  the  high 
point  of  elevation  to  which  his  ambition  leads.  But  if  the  senator  from  Illinois 
thinks  that  a  middle  course  in  regard  to  this  question  is  best  calculated  to  serve 
his  purpose,  he  is  mistaken.' 

"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  The  senator  has  hit  it  precisely  when  he  says  that  sometimes 
the  course  advised  in  the  familiar  adage  which  he  has  quoted  is  indeed  the 
course  of  duty  and  of  wisdom.  I  do  believe  that  upon  this  question,  that  is  the 
only  course  which  can  win  "  golden  opinions"  from  reflecting  men  throughout  the 
country,7 

"  Mr.  Foote  (in  his  seat).  '  Golden  opinions  from  all  sorts  of  people.' 
"  Mr.  Douglas.  '  In  the  North,  it  is  not  expected  that  we  should  take  the  po 
sition  that  slavery  is  a  positive  good — a  positive  blessing.  If  we  did  assume  such 
a  position,  it  would  be  a  very  pertinent  inquiry,  Why  do  you  not  adopt  this  insti 
tution?  We  have  molded  our  institutions  at  the  North  as  we  have  thought  prop 
er;  and  now  we  say  to  you  of  the  South,  if  slavery  be  a  blessing,  it  is  your  bless 
ing;  if  it  be  a  curse,  it  is  your  curse;  enjoy  it:  on  you  rest  all  the  responsibility ! 
We  are  prepared  to  aid  you  in  the  maintenance  of  all  your  constitutional  rights ; 
and  I  apprehend  that  no  man,  South  or  North,  has  shown  more  consistently  a  dis 
position  to  do  so  than  myself.  From  first  to  last,  I  have  evinced  that  disposition. 
But  my  object  was  to  inform  the  people  of  the  South  how  it  is  that  gentlemen 
professing  the  sentiments  of  the  senator  from  New  Hampshire  get  here ;  how  it 
is  that  they  will  see  others  coming  here  with  similar  sentiments,  unless  they  reflect 
more  calmly  and  coolly,  and  take  a  different  course ;  and  how  this  imprudent  and 
violent  course  is  calculated  to  crush  us  who  oppose  abolitionism.  If  any  unpleas 
ant  feeling  has  been  excited  by  these  remarks  of  mine,  I  regret  it.  I  know  that 
it  is  not  always  pleasant  to  tell  the  truth  plainly  and  boldly,  when  it  comes  home 


326  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

to  an  individual;  but  what  I  have  said  is  the   truth,  and  we  all  know  it  and 
feel  it. 

"  I  think  the  introduction  of  this  bill  has  been  ill  timed.  I  doubt  its  expedien 
cy  in  any  circumstances ;  but,  brought  up  at  present,  it  is  peculiarly  calculated  to 
produce  unnecessary  excitement;  and  I  will  never  consent  to  the  introduction  of 
such  a  bill  under  the  present  circumstances.  I  am  willing  to  instruct  your  com 
mittee  to  inquire  whether  any  formal  legislation  be  necessary  for  the  purpose  of 
suppressing  kidnapping,  mobs,  rioting,  and  violence  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
I  am  prepared  to  meet  the  responsibility  of  passing  the  most  stringent  laws  against 
any  illegal  acts.  That  is  my  position.  My  views  in  relation  to  this  subject  are 
•well  known.  I  have  always  supported,  by  my  vote,  the  rule  excluding  abolition 
petitions.  I  voted  with  you  of  the  South  to  sustain  it.  It  was  repealed  against 
my  vote.  I  was  ready  to  stand  by  it  as  long  as  it  was  necessary  for  your  protec 
tion-  I  will  vote  for  any  other  measure  necessary  to  protect  your  rights ;  but  I 
claim  the  privilege  of  pointing  out  to  you  how  you  give  strength  and  encourage 
ment  to  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North,  by  the  imprudent  expression  of  what  I  grant 
to  be  just  indignation,  and  which  you  deem  it  to  be  necessary  so  to  utter  in  self- 
defense." 

Throughout  his  whole  term  of  service,  the  personal  bearing 
of  Mr.  Giddings  has  been  unexceptionable,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  strictest  requirements  of  parliamentary  decorum.  We 
have  seen  him  taunted,  rebuked,  insulted — all  but  struck ;  yet 
we  never  saw  him  forget  his  knowledge  of  the  presence  he  was 
in,  much  less  engage  in  any  thing  like  one  of  those  pugilistic 
encounters  of  which- the  records  of  the  House,  in  recent  years, 
afford  so  many  humiliating  evidences. 

On  one  occasion,  when  an  insult  was  regarded  by  him  as 
very  direct  and  gross,  he  manifested  his  appreciation  of  it  by 
this  reply — a  type  of  his  conduct  in  all  such  instances : 

"  It  is  related  of  a  veteran  marshal,  who  had  grown  old  in 
the  service  of  his  country,  and  who  had  fought  a  hundred  bat 
tles,  that  he  happened  to  offend  a  young  and  fiery  officer,  who 
spat  in  his  face  for  the  purpose  of  insulting  him.  The  gen 
eral,  taking  his  handkerchief  from  his  pocket  and  wiping  his 
face,  remarked,  i  If  I  could  wash  your  blood  from  my  soul  as 
easily  as  I  can  this  spittle  from  my  face,  you  should  not  live 
another  day.' 

"I  will  say  to  the  member  that  I  claim  no  station  superior 
to  the  most  humble,  nor  inferior  to  the  most  exalted.  In  rep 
resenting  what  I  believe  to  be  the  views  of  my  people,  and  what 
I  deem  their  interests  and  the  interests  of  the  North,  I  made 
the  remarks  I  did.  I  say  to  him,  that  at  the  North  we  have  a 
different  mode  of  punishing  insults  from  that  which  exists  at 
the  South.  With  us,  the  man  who  wantonly  assails  another 


JOSHUA   REED   GIDDINGS.  327 

is  punished  by  public  sentiment.     To  that  sentiment  I  appeal. 
It  will  do  justice  both  to  the  member  and  myself." 

It  may  truly  be  said  that  there  is  no  member  of  the  House 
more  constantly  attentive  to  the  duties  of  his  station  or  the 
interests  of  his  constituents  than  Mr.  Giddings. 


LUMPKIN,    JOHN    HENRY, 

REPRESENTS  the  fifth  Congressional  District  of  the  State 
of  Georgia.  He  was  born  on  the  13th  of  June,  1812,  in  Ogle- 
thorpe  county  in  that  state.  His  forefathers  emigrated  from 
England  before  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  originally  set 
tled  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  where  many  of  the  family  con 
nections  remain  to  this  day.  His  grandfather,  John  Lumpkin, 
Senior,  removed  to  Georgia,  and  settled  in  Oglethorpe  county 
when  that  section  of  the  country  was  a  wilderness.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Convention  that  framed  the  present  Constitution 
of  the  state  at  an  early  period  of  her  history.  He  married  at 
an  early  age,  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  Lucy  Hopson,  and  was 
the  father  of  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  were  raised,  and 
settled  in  the  State  of  Georgia  with  their  families.  His  sec 
ond  son,  William  Lumpkin,  has  always  occupied  a  popular  po 
sition  in  that  state ;  and,  from  the  time  he  was  eligible  to  a 
seat  in  the  Legislature  to  the  present  period,  no  man  has  pos 
sessed  a  more  liberal  share  of  the  public  confidence.  He  was 
elected  in  the  first  instance  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislature  of 
Georgia,  and  subsequently  to  a  seat  in  the  national  House  of 
Representatives.  He  was  then  twice  elected  Governor  of  Geor 
gia,  and  afterward  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
In  all  these  positions  he  sustained  himself  with  much  ability, 
constantly  adding  to  his  own  strength  and  popularity  in  ev 
ery  public  station  which  he  occupied.  He  was  a  plain  farm 
er,  and  had  not  been  favored  with  early  advantages,  or  oppor 
tunities  for  education  of  an  academical  or  collegiate  charac 
ter  ;  but,  by  his  application  and  great  industry  in  qualifying 
himself  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  distinguished  stations 
he  has  occupied,  and  which  he  filled  with  credit  to  himself 
and  entire  satisfaction  to  those  whom  he  represented,  he  now 
bears  the  reputation  of  one  of  the  best-informed  and  most  use 
ful  citizens  of  the  state.  For  forty  years  no  man  has  been 
328 


^T^fe^T 


Z* 


r^ 


JOHN   HENRY   LUMPKIN.  329 

more  beloved  or  more  trusted.  While  in  Congress,  he  distin 
guished  himself  by  his  active  exertions  in  urging  upon  the  gen 
eral  government  the  extinguishment  of  the  Indian  titles  to  all 
lands  within  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Georgia ;  and  he  favored 
and  supported,  with  all  his  ability,  the  policy  of  settling  the 
Indians  permanently  in  the  territory  belonging  to  the  United 
States  west  of  the  Mississippi  River,  After  he  was  elected 
governor,  he  continued  to  advocate  the  same  policy,  and  suc 
ceeded,  during  his  administration,  in  removing  the  Cherokee 
Indians  from  Georgia,  and  organizing  the  country  which  they 
had  occupied,  west  of  the  Chattahoochee  River,  into  thirteen 
counties,  which  now  contain  an  intelligent,  industrious,  and  en 
terprising  population,  numbering  at  this  time  not  less  than  one 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  The  county  of  Lumpkin  was 
named  for  him ;  and  to  the  town  of  Lumpkin,  in  the  county 
of  Stewart,  the  name  was  also  given  in  honor  of  his  public  serv 
ices  and  private  worth.  He  has  retired  from  all  public  employ 
ment,  and  is  now  residing  at  the  town  of  Athens  in  ease  and 
comfort. 

Of  the  nine  children  of  John  Lumpkin,  Senior,  to  whom  we 
have  referred,  eight  were  sons  and  one  was  a  daughter.  The 
six  oldest  sons  were  all  farmers,  including  Wilson  Lumpkin, 
of  whose  public  career  we  have  just  spoken.  The  two  youngest 
sons,  Joseph  Henry  Lumpkin  and  Thomas  Jefferson  Lumpkin, 
were  educated  at  Princeton  College,  in  the  State  of  New  Jer 
sey.  The  youngest,  Thomas,  after  studying  a  profession,  and 
marrying,  removed  to  the  State  of  Alabama.  He  gave  prom 
ise  there  of  a  distinguished  career  as  a  lawyer,  but  fell  a  vic 
tim  at  an  early  age  to  the  ravages  of  the  climate.  Joseph 
Henry  Lumpkin  studied  law,  and  has  long  occupied  a  distin 
guished  position  as  a  lawyer  in  Middle  and  Northern  Georgia. 
He  is  considered  a  well -read  and  profound  lawyer,  and,  as 
an  advocate,  has  found  no  superior  in  that  state.  He  is  a 
ripe  scholar  ;  and,  while  he  is  universally  regarded  as  a  man  of 
superior  intellectual  attainments,  and  respected  for  his  profes 
sional  learning  and  ability,  he  is  also  beloved  for  his  philan 
thropy  and  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christianity.  At  the 
session  of  the  Legislature  which  met  in  1845,  a  Supreme  Court 
for  the  Correction  of  Errors  was  for  the  first  time  organized  in 
the  state,  and  three  judges,  of  eminent  ability,  were  selected 


330  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS 

for  these  newly-created  offices.  One  of  the  judges  was  elected 
for  the  term  of  six  years,  another  for  the  term  of  four  years, 
and  another  for  the  term  of  two  years.  The  one  elected  for 
the  term  of  six  years  was  to  be  considered  as  chief  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state.  Joseph  Henry  Lumpkin 
was  elected  for  that  term,  and  is  at  this  time  doing  much  by 
his  judicial  attainments  to  give  to  the  decisions  of  that  court 
an  honorable  distinction,  as  well  in  Georgia  as  in  other  states 
of  the  Union. 

The  five  other  sons  of  John  Lumpkin,  Senior,  namely,  Will 
iam,  John,  George,  Henry  Hopson,  and  Samuel,  were  all  plain, 
substantial  farmers,  or  planters,  remarkable  for  their  energy  of 
character  and  sound  practical  sense.  John,  the  third  son,  was 
highly  esteemed  among  the  Baptist  denomination  as  a  faithful 
and  successful  minister  of  the  Gospel.  Few  men  possessed 
more  undivided  influence  over  their  congregations,  and  he  was 
beloved  by  all  who  knew  him. 

George,  the  father  of  John  H.  Lumpkin,  was  the  fourth  son, 
and  enjoyed  but  few  early  advantages  of  education.  He  was 
employed  on  his  father's  farm  until  he  arrived  at  manhood, 
where  he  learned  to  labor,  and  acquired  habits  of  industry  that 
have  never  deserted  him.  Soon  after  his  maturity  he  married 
Sarah  Pope,  the  daughter  of  Henry  Pope,  who  was  a  respecta 
ble  planter,  and  resided  in  the  county  of  Oglethorpe,  not  far 
from  his  father's  residence.  By  this  marriage  he  had  issue  two 
sons  and  three  daughters. 

John  H.  Lumpkin  was  the  oldest  son,  and,  when  not  more 
than  five  years  of  age,  was  sent  to  a  neighboring  school,  and 
continued  there,  with  occasional  interruptions,  until,  in  his 
tenth  year,  he  was  left  without  a  mother.  After  her  decease, 
his  father  married  a  second  and  a  third  time.  His  second  wife, 
Frances  Callaway,  lived  only  six  weeks  after  marriage.  His 
third  and  present  wife  was  Lucy  Davis,  by  whom  he  had  issue 
a  son  and  daughter.  The  son,  George,  is  now  in  the  public 
service  in  the  Post-office  Department  at  Washington. 

While  his  father  was  a  widower,  John  H.  Lumpkin  was 
placed  from  home  in  the  family  of  his  uncle,  Samuel  Lumpkin, 
a  farmer,  from  whom  and  his  wife  he  received  attention  and 
kindness  which  made  an  ineffaceable  impression  on  his  memo 
ry.  He  speaks  of  them  now.  in  terms  of  the  most  grateful  re- 


JOHNHENRY     LlIMPKIN.  331 

merabrance.  During  his  sojourn  under  their  roof,  he  had  no 
opportunity  of  going  to  school;  but,  upon  his  father's  third 
marriage,  the  children  having  been  taken  home,  he  was  again 
placed  at  school,  and  commenced  learning  Greek  and  Latin. 
He  continued  to  prosecute  these  studies,  with  others,  prepara 
tory  to  admission  into  college,  under  the  tuition  of  Messrs. 
Sherwood,  Rhea,  Alden,  and  Hopping,  at  the  Hermon  Acade 
my,  erected  by  his  father  and  several  other  neighbors,  for  the 
purpose  of  educating  their  own  children,  without  incurring  the 
hazard  and  expense  of  sending  them  from  home.  But,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  these  pursuits  became  extremely  irksome,  and 
he  asked  his  father's  permission  to  leave  school,  that  he  might 
go  into  the  field  and  perform  daily  labor  with  the  slaves.  His 
father  assented  to  the  proposition,  but  not  without  regret  at  the 
apparent  disappointment  of  the  hopes  he  had  cherished  for  his 
son.  He  gave  him  the  full  benefit,  however,  of  the  most  severe 
and  constant  labor.  He  was  employed  in  the  same  duties,  for 
the  same  number  of  hours,  with  other  laborers  of  his  own  age 
and  strength.  No  favors  were  shown  to  the  son  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  servant,  but,  whether  in  toil  or  repose,  the  same 
share  was  meted  out  to  both.  Before  the  close  of  the  year,  his 
father  made  an  arrangement  with  John  Landrum,  a  worthy 
gentleman,  at  that  time  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ogle- 
thorpe  county,  to  employ  his  son  in  the  office  as  assistant  clerk. 
The  terms  of  the  engagement  werer  that  his  father  was  to  board 
and  clothe  him,  and  that  he  was  to  have  the  benefit  of  Mr. 
Landrum's  instruction  in  return  for  any  assistance  he  could 
render  in  the  office.  He  remained  here  one  year,  and  acquired 
much  valuable  information.  The  associations  to  which  this 
office  introduced  him,  gave  him,  for  the  first  time,  a  thirst  for 
knowledge,  and  a  desire  for  a  regular  education.  His  energies 
and  ambition  were  awakened  under  the  conviction  that  educa 
tion  and  knowledge  alone  could  give  him  position  and  elevation 
in  life.  His  new-horn  views  were  readily  sanctioned  by  his 
father,  and  he  was  sent  immediately  to  Franklin  College,  Ath 
ens,  Georgia,  having  been  first,  admonished  that  to  give  him  an 
education  and  a  profession  would  be  all  that  justice  to  the  other 
members  of  ;the  family  would  allow  to  be  done  for  him,  and  that, 
beyond  those  benefits,  he  must  loot  to  his  own ,  exertions  for 
advancement  in  life. 


332  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

About  this  time  his  father  became  pious,  attached  himself  to 
the  Baptist  denomination  of  Christians,  and  devoted  himself  to 
the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  He  was  naturally  a  man  of  strong 
mind  and  vigorous  intellect,  remarkable  for  his  energy  and  de 
cision  of  character ;  and  when  these  elements  of  mind  and  char 
acter  were  concentrated  upon  any  given  subject,  action  was  in 
evitable.  His  improvement  after  his  conversion  was  rapid, 
and  he  was  in  a  very  short  time  ordained  as  a  Baptist  minis 
ter.  He  has  continued  in  that  vocation  for  nearly  twenty  years. 
He  holds  a  prominent  place  in  the  estimation  of  the  denomina 
tion  to  which  he  belongs.  He  is  beloved  by  all  his  congregations, 
and  has  frequently  been  elected  moderator  of  the  association  to 
which  he  is  attached.  He  still  continues  to  plant  cotton,  and 
divides  his  time  between  his  farm  and  three  or  four  churches  in 
the  county,  at  each  of  which  he  has  been  called  to  preach  as 
often  as  one  Saturday  and  Sunday  in  each  month.  He  now 
resides  in  the  same  county  where  he  was  born  and  reared,  and 
where  he  raised  his  family. 

After  remaining  at  Franklin  College  about  twelve  months, 
John  H.  was  sent,  in  1830,  to  Yale  College,  Connecticut. 
While  pursuing  his  studies  there,  he  acted  a  conspicuous  part 
in  defending  his  native  state  against  charges  against  her,  grow 
ing  out  of  the  contest  between  the  constituted  authorities  of 
Georgia  (of  which  state  his  uncle,  Wilson  Lumpkin,  was  then 
governor)  and  the  Cherokee  Indians,  in  regard  to  her  right  to 
extend  her  laws  and  jurisdiction  over  the  country  then  occupied 
by  the  Indians  west  of  the  Chattahoochee  River.  In  the  sum 
mer  of  1832,  upon  the  approach  of  the  Asiatic  cholera,  the  fac 
ulty  at  Yale  College  determined  to  suspend  for  a  time  all  du 
ties  and  instruction,  and  the  students  returned  to  their  resi 
dences.  Not  long  after  his  arrival  at  home,  after  an  absence 
of  upward  of  two  years,  his  uncle,  the  governor,  invited  him  to 
Milledgeville,  offering  him  the  appointment  of  secretary  under 
him  in  the  executive  department,  which  he  accepted.  He  re 
mained  in  that  office  until  July,  1833,  when  the  state  of  his 
health  required  him  to  resign  it.  Having  recovered,  he  enter 
ed  the  office  of  his  uncle,  Joseph  Henry  Lumpkin,  and  read  law 
with  him  until  March,  1834,  when  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
as  a  counselor  and  attorney  at  law. 

The  laws  of  Georgia  were  then  extended  over  the  Cherokee 


JOHN   HENRY   LUM^KIN.  333 

country  west  of  the  Chattahoochee  River.  The  land  had  been 
surveyed  and  disposed  of  by  lottery  to  the  citizens  of  the  state  ; 
the  country  had  been  divided  into  thirteen  counties,  and  all  the 
civil  and  military  officers  had  been  elected  and  commissioned 
for  the  purposes  of  justice  and  order.  The  Indians,  however, 
were  still  residing  in  the  territory,  at  their  homes,  and  were 
protected  by  the  laws  of  Georgia  in  the  possession  and  enjoy 
ment  of  their  improvements.  In  the  fall  of  1835,  the  head  men 
and  chiefs  of  the  Cherokee  nation  entered  into  a  treaty  with 
the  United  States,  ceding  their  country  to  the  general  govern 
ment  for  the  use  of  Georgia,  but  providing  that  they  should 
hold  possession  of  their  actual  improvements  for  two  years.  At 
the  expiration  of  the  time  designated  by  the  treaty,  the  tribe 
were  all  removed  together  to  their  new  homes  in  the  West ;  but 
Mr.  Lumpkin,  immediately  after  his  admission  to  the  bar,  re 
moved  to  the  county  of  Floyd,  one  of  the  new  counties  formed 
out  of  the  country  acquired  from  the  Cherokees,  and  establish 
ed  himself  in  his  profession.  After  a  short  residence  there,  and 
being  then  only  twenty -three  years  of  age,  he  was  chosen  by 
the  people  to  represent  them  in  the  State  Legislature.  During 
its  session,  a  charter  was  granted  to  the  Central  Rail-road  Com 
pany,  authorizing  them  to  construct  a  road  from  Savannah  to 
the  city  of  Macon,  in  support  of  which  project  he  is  represent 
ed  to  have  made  a  very  successful  effort.  It  was  his  first. 
Ever  since  then  he  has  been  the  warm  advocate  of  internal 
improvements  by  means  of  private  capital,  controlled  by  proper 
limitations.  A  year  or  two  later,  he  was  an  active  member 
of  the  Internal  Improvement  Convention  held  in  the  city  of 
Macon,  which  projected  the  great  Western  and  Atlantic  Rail 
road  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Tennessee  River.  During  his 
term  of  service  in  the  State  Legislature  he  was  the  active  friend 
of  the  most  extended  and  useful  system  of  common  schools  for 
the  purposes  of  education ;  and,  for  the  benefit  of  that  portion 
of  Georgia  recently  organized  into  counties  out  of  the  territory 
acquired  from  the  Cherokee  Indians,  he  introduced  a  bill  mak 
ing  an  appropriation  of  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  of 
academies.  He  succeeded  in  carrying  this  bill  through  ;  and, 
at  an  early  day,  a  newly-erected  and  neatly-painted  building 
might  be  seen  at  the  court-house  town  in  each  county,  a  mon 
ument  of  the  enlightened  munificence  of  the  Legislature  in  the 


334  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

cause  of  education.  He  also  urged  upon  that  body  an  appro 
priation  of  ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  improvement  of  the 
Coosa  River,  at  the  head  of  which  is  situated  the  town  of  Rome, 
then  and  now  the  place  of  his  residence.  The  proposition  was 
ridiculed.  It  was  opposed,  in  debate,  upon  the  ground  that  the 
removal  of  obstructions  would  prevent  citizens,  resident  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  stream,  from  crossing  over  on  foot-logs.  And 
thus  it  failed.  Yet  now,  a  fine  large  steamboat,  carrying 
hundreds  of  bales  of  cotton,  is  running  constantly  on  that  river ; 
and  it  is  said  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  North  Ala 
bama  will  annually  send  by  its  waters  to  the  Georgia  rail 
roads  at  least  twenty  thousand  bales  of  cotton  for  the  markets 
of  Charleston  and  Savannah. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1836,  Mr.  Lumpkin  married,  at 
Milledgeville,  Martha  Antoinette,  eldest  daughter  of  Robert 
M'Combs,  of  that  place.  He  continued  the  practice  of  his 
profession  at  Rome,  Floyd  county.  By  his  marriage  he  had 
one  son,  but  his  wife  died  of  consumption  in  September,  1838. 
In  November  of  that  year  he  was  chosen  by  the  Legislature, 
against  many  opponents,  Solicitor  General  of  the  Cherokee 
Circuit  of  Georgia  for  the  term  of  three  years.  It  is  con 
ceded  that  he  made  a  good  prosecuting  officer,  and  brought 
himself  into  much  repute  with  the  people  of  his  district.  At 
the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1839,  in  a  convention  of  the 
Democratic  party,  he  was  for  the  first  time,  being  then  only 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  Con 
gress.  He  ran  before  the  whole  people  of  Georgia  (the  election 
being  by  general  ticket),  and,  although  defeated,  was  among 
the  highest  on  his  own  ticket.  In  May,  1840,  he  married  his 
second  wife,  Mary  Jane,  daughter  of  Thomas  Crutchfield,  who 
resides  at  Athens,  in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  By  this  mar 
riage  he  has  three  children  living.  In  the  spring  of  1842,  he 
was  again  nominated  by  the  Democratic  party  as  one  of  its 
candidates,  to  be  run,  by  general-ticket  election,  for  the  twen 
ty-eighth  Congress.  He  was  elected,  and  took  his  seat. 

In  another  place  [see  title,  HOWELL  COBB],  we  have  entered 
into  some  details  respecting  the  conflict  of  State  and  Federal 
authority  arising  under  the  second  section  of  the  Apportion 
ment  Law.  Mr.  Lumpkin  was  one  of  the  representatives  from 
the  State  of  Georgia  who  were  elected  to  the  twenty-eighth 


JOHN   HENRY   LUMPKIN.  335 

Congress  under  the  general  ticket  system.  He  maintained 
and  vindicated  the  rights  of  his  state  under  that  system. 
Though  personally  in  favor  of  the  Congressional  District  sys 
tem,  as  he  believed  a  majority  of  both  political  parties  in  Geor 
gia  were,  yet  he  contended  that  the  people  of  that  state  had  not 
assented  to  the  principle,  as  asserted  in  the  second  section  of 
the  Apportionment  Act,  and  that,  therefore,  it  was  invalid  and 
inoperative,  because  Congress  possessed  no  constitutional  pow 
er  thus  to  direct  the  legislation  of  the  states. 

"  We  have  been  characterized,"  he  said,  "  by  honorable  mem 
bers  of  this  House,  in  solemn  and  formal  protest,  which  they 
sought  to  enter  upon  your  journals,  as  violators  of  public  law, 
as  disorganizes  seeking  to  overturn  the  government  itself; 
and,  in  the  course  of  this  discussion,  some  of  these  same  hon 
orable  gentlemen  have  declared  it  to  be  an  act  of  nullification 
on  the  part  of  the  people  of  four  states  of  this  Union,  whose 
election  laws  have  not  been  made  to  conform  to  the  legislation 
of  Congress  by  their  several  State  Legislatures.  I  am  not  of 
that  school  of  politicians  who,  ten  years  ago,  had  their  exist 
ence  as  a  separate  and  distinct  political  party,  and  were  de 
nominated  'Nullifiers,'  and,  consequently,  can  not  speak  for 
them  on  this  occasion.  They  can,  and  no  doubt  will,  defend 
their  own  position,  if  necessary ;  but  I  desire,  sir,  to  enter  my 
own  solemn  disclaimer  to  the  charge  of  insubordination  to  the 
.constitutional  government  of  this  country — the  constitutional 
laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof.  My  honorable  colleague  [Mr. 
Stephens],  while  he  admits  the  obligatory  character  of  the  law 
of  Congress  under  discussion,  and  urges  the  duty  of  compliance 
on  the  part  of  the  State  Legislatures,  also  admits  that  this 
House  is  not  only  the  proper,  but  the  sole  judicial  tribunal, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  determine  the  question  of  the  validity  or 
nullity  of  the  late  law.  The  same  position  has  been  conceded 
by  every  member  who  has  addressed  the  House,  without  a  sol 
itary  exception.  The  members  from  these  four  states  have 
presented  themselves  and  the  rights  of  their  constituents  at  the 
bar  of  this  House,  affirming  that  the  second  section  of  the  Ap 
portionment  Act  is  invalid,  inoperative,  null  and  void,  and  that 
the  only  law  in  force  and  in  operation  is  the  law  of  their  sev 
eral  states.  These  grave  and  important  issues,  involving  the 
great  and  inestimable  constitutional  right  of  the  people  to  be 

1 


336  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

represented  in  this  government,  are  now  under  your  considera 
tion  by  the  only  conceded  constitutional  tribunal  that  is  to  de 
termine  the  whole  question ;  and  yet,  in  the  face  of  all  this, 
we  are  called  disorganizes,  violators  of  public  law,  manifesting 
insubordination  to  regular  government,  our  Constitution,  and 
the  laws  made  in  pursuance  thereof.  This,  sir,  is  trifling  with 
the  dignity  and  importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  interests  in 
volved,  and  does  not  comport  with  the  high-toned  character  of 
American  statesmen.  Mr.  Speaker,  as  well  might  a  party-lit 
igant  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  now  sitting 
in  the  other  end  of  this  Capitol,  who  relies  for  a  recovery  on 
some  defect  in  your  statutory  law,  or  because  it  is  unconstitu 
tional,  be  termed  a  disorganizer.  The  Supreme  Court  itself, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  determine  all  questions  submitted  to  them, 
and  to  pronounce  on  the  constitutionality  of  existing  laws  of 
the  general  government,  as  well  as  to  give  force  and  effect  to 
them  by  construction,  might,  with  equal  propriety,  be  termed 
disorganizers  and  violators  of  the  law,  and  subverters  of  the 
Constitution  and  government  of  the  country." 

In  support  of  his  constitutional  right  to  represent  the  people 
of  Georgia,  without  any  additional  legislation  on  the  part  of 
the  state  or  general  government,  he  relied,  first,  on  the  second 
section  of  the  first  article  of  the  Constitution,  which  declares 
that  "  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of  mem 
bers  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several 
states."  This  was  the  basis  of  the  right  which  he  contended 
had  been  secured  to  the  people  of  the  several  states,  and  of 
which  they  could  only  be  deprived  by  laws  of  the  general  gov 
ernment,  made  in  the  just  exercise  of  power  granted  expressly 
in  the  Federal  Constitution. 

He  relied,  secondly,  on  the  fourth  section  of  the  first  article 
of  the  Constitution,  \vhich  provides  "  that  the  times,  places,  and 
manner  of  holding  elections  for  senators  and  representatives 
shall  be  prescribed  in  each  state  by  the  Legislature  thereof; 
but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time,  by  law,  make  or  alter  such 
regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing  senators." 

This  constitutional  obligation,  which  imposed  upon  the  states 
an  imperative  duty  that  could  not  be  disregarded,  without  im 
plying  faithlessness  to  the  national  compact,  had,  he.  contended, 
been  completely  fulfilled  by  the  Legislatures  of  the  states  who 


JOHN    HENRY   LUMPKIN.  337 

had  passed  such  laws  as  was  therein  contemplated,  and  who 
could  not,  therefore,  be  censured  for  any  failure  on  their  part 
to  comply  with  this  primary  constitutional  duty.  If  any  of  the 
State  Legislatures  had  neglected  to  make  the  necessary  regu 
lations  under  this  clause,  Congress  would  then  have  had  the 
right  to  step  in  and  make  all  such  regulations.  In  answer  to 
the  argument  that  the  second  section  of  the  law  had  been  pass 
ed  under  the  power  given  to  "  alter"  the  state  regulations,  he 
contended  that  the  legislation  of  Congress,  which  attempted  to 
interfere  with  the  legislation  of  the  several  states,  should  be  so 
far  perfect  and  complete  as  to  form,  by  the  substitution  of  its 
own  enactment,  a  full  exercise  of  all  the  power  conferred  by 
the  Constitution  primarily  upon  the  Legislatures  of  the  sever 
al  states,  and  permissively,  or  supervisorily,  on  Congress.  This 
perfect  and  complete  legislation  the  law  had  not  attempted. 
He  admitted  that  Congress,  under  the  Constitution,  had  the 
power  to  exercise  full  control  and  authority  in  making  and  al 
tering  all  regulations,  so  far  as  regarded  the  times,  places,  and 
manner  of  holding  elections  for  representatives ;  but  he  did  not 
think  that  any  exigency  had  occurred  which  justified  the  exer 
cise  of  this  authority,  or  an  attempt  to  control  the  manner  of 
holding  elections  in  the  different  states  of  the  confederacy.  In 
other  words,  he  doubted  whether  such  a  necessity  actually  ex 
isted,  as  was  foreseen  and  provided  for  by  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution,  to  justify  the  attempt  of  Congress  to  control  the 
manner  of  holding  elections  by  unprescribed  districts.  We 
have  elsewhere  noted  the  results  of  this  controversy. 

Mr.  Lumpkin  exerted  himself  indefatigably  and  successfully 
to  procure  reparation  to  his  immediate  constituents,  many  of 
whom  had  served  as  mounted  volunteers  in  the  Florida  war,  for 
horses  lost  in  that  service.  Congress  had  provided  by  law  for 
the  payment  of  such  claims,  but  up  to  the  date  of  his  election 
few  of  them  had  been  liquidated.  The  records  of  the  third  au 
ditor's  office  will  show  what  his  labors  in  this  behalf  were. 

In  1843,  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  divided  the  state  into 
Congressional  Districts,  by  which  process  Mr.  Lumpkin  and 
his  Democratic  colleague,  William  H.  Stiles,  more  recently 
charge  des  affaires  at  the  court  of  Austria,  were  thrown  into 
the  fifth  Congressional  District.  Their  friends  were  divided  be 
tween  them,  but  the  nominating  Convention  gave  the  choice 

VOL.  I.— Y 


338  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

to  Mr.  Lumpkin  as  their  candidate  for  the  twenty-ninth  Con 
gress.  He  was  elected  over  his  Whig  competitor  by  a  majority 
of  twenty-eight  or  twenty-nine  hundred  votes.  This  election 
took  place  in  1844,  when  the  whole  country  was  convulsed  in  re- 
gard  to  the  presidential  contest  then  pending  between  James  K. 
Polk  and  Henry  Clay.  In  1846  Mr.  Lumpkin  was  again  elected 
by  a  majority  over  his  Whig  opponent  of  nearly  four  thousand 
votes. 

He  has  uniformly  acted  and  voted  with  his  party.  He  says, 
u  I  am  a  Democrat  by  nature ;  I  have  been  raised  among  the 
people,  and  all  my  sympathies  are  with  them."  He  has  given 
a  cordial  support  to  the  administration  in  all  matters  connected 
with  the  prosecution  of  the  Mexican  war.  In  a  speech  deliv 
ered  on  the  18th  of  May,  1846,  a  few  days  only  after  the  pas 
sage  of  the  War  Bill,  he  vindicated  the  executive  from  the 
charges  of  aggression  and  usurpation  in  respect  to  Mexico. 
Speaking  of  that  functionary,  he  said, 

"  I  am  unwilling  to  believe  that  there  is  an  American  citi 
zen,  of  any  party  or  section  of  this  Union,  who  would  withhold 
the  means  for  defense  against  a  hostile  invasion  from  any  quar 
ter.  It  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that  our  soil  has  been  dese 
crated;  that  our  country  has  been  invaded ;  that  a  hostile  band 
of  armed  soldiers  have  killed  and  wounded  our  citizens ;  and 
that  the  American  army,  under  General  Taylor,  is  in  a  hazard 
ous  situation,  and  in  need  of  assistance.  At  a  time  like  this,  shall 
we  be  struggling  for  a  mere  party  triumph  ?  Can  no  circum 
stances  or  condition  of  the  country — no  perils,  however  great,  in 
duce  gentlemen  in  the  opposition  to  cease  their  cavilling  against 
the  administration,  or  postpone  their  hostility  to  the  President  ? 
Is  not  this  an  occasion  when,  for  a  time,  all  party  distinctions 
and  differences  shall  be  forgotten,  and  with  one  voice,  with  one 
heart,  and  with  one  hand,  we  all  shall  march  forward  in  de 
fense  of  the  soil,  the  rights,  and  the  honor  of  the  country  ? 

"  If  the  President  had  done  less  than  to  have  prevented,  with 
all  the  means  at  his  command,  the  invasion  of  this  territory  by 
a  hostile  band  of  Mexican  soldiers,  he  would  have  been  censura 
ble  for  permitting  the  desecration  of  American  soil  by  ruthless 
invaders ;  and  the  same  gentlemen  who  now  charge  him  with 
a  violation  of  the  Constitution,  and  with  a  usurpation  of  power 
to  make  an  aggressive  war  upon  a  friendly  sister  republic,  would 


JOHN   HENRY  LUMPKIN.  339 

have  raised  the  cry  long  and  loud  against  his  imbecility,  his 
cowardice,  and  his  want  of  ability  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
chief  magistrate  of  this  Union.  I  do  not  expect  that  the  Pres 
ident  can  satisfy  such  individuals.  It  would  be  vain,  and  worse 
than  idle  for  him  to  make  the  attempt.  But  the  great  body  of 
the  enterprising,  industrious  people  of  this  country,  of  all  par 
ties,  with  one  accord,  will  respect  him  for  his  prudence,  cherish 
him  for  his  wisdom,  and  honor  him  for  the  bold  and  fearless 
manner  in  which  he  has  discharged  his  high  and  responsible 
constitutional  obligations." 

Mr.  Lumpkin  has  uniformly  manifested  an  active  interest  in 
all  measures  connected  with  the  prosperity  of  his  own  district 
and  state.  He  has  urged  again  and  again  upon  the  considera 
tion  of  Congress,  since  he  first  entered  upon  the  discharge  of 
his  duties  as  a  representative  of  the  people,  the  propriety  and 
expediency  of  establishing  a  national  foundry  in  Cass  county, 
Georgia,  a  central  point  in  his  district.  The  subject  has  been 
brought  before  Congress  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances. 
It  has  been  referred  to  select  committees  as  well  as  to  the  regu 
lar  standing  committees  of  the  House,  and  the  efficient  aid 
which  has  been  rendered  by  Mr.  Lumpkin  in  these  investiga 
tions  has  contributed  materially  to  the  favorable  results  which 
have  always  attended  them.  For  the  period  of  four  years  bills 
have  been  reported  carrying  out  his  views,  but,  as  yet,  no  de 
cision  has  been  made  upon  them. 

As  a  member  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  he  has  introduced, 
and  procured  the  passage  of  a  bill  through  the  House,  dividing 
the  State  of  Georgia  into  two  judicial  districts,  organizing  a 
separate  district  from  the  northern  counties  of  the  state,  and 
conferring  upon  it  circuit-court  powers  and  jurisdiction.  To 
this  course  he  has  been  prompted  by  the  interests  of  that 
growing  section  of  the  state  which  he  represents. 

As  a  public  man,  he  is  said  to  pride  himself  more  on  his 
character  for  firm  and  consistent  devotion  to  one  set  of  political 
principles  than  for  distinguished  abilities.  As  a  debater  he  is 
somewhat  diffident,  rarely  ever  speaking  in  the  House  or  be 
fore  the  people,  unless  forced  to  do  so  by  some  imperative  ne 
cessity.  When  he  does  speak  he  is  rapid  and  impetuous,  hav 
ing  more  regard,  we  should  suppose,  to  the  strength  of  the  col 
umn  than  to  its  beauty.  It  is  known  to  us  that  he  has  ap- 


340  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

plied  himself  with  uninterrupted  vigilance  to  all  those  private 
interests  and  concerns  which  his  constituents  have  intrusted 
to  his  charge,  and  that  he  makes  it  an  invariable  rule  that  no 
letter  addressed  to  him  shall  remain  without  an  answer.  Be 
neath  the  surface  of  this  one  general  fact  there  is  a  secret, 
as  between  the  representative  and  his  people,  which  is  well 
worth  knowing,  but  not,  we  think,  as  universally  sought  after 
as  it  might  be.  We  commend  the  matter  to  a  more  general 
investigation ;  for  though,  by  this  construction  of  his  duty,  a 
representative  must,  at  times,  find  the  claims  upon  his  time 
and  attention  laboriously  multiplied,  yet  he  will  most  probably 
reap  his  reward  in  the  gratification  of  a  confiding  constituency, 
and  in  the  accumulating  majorities  which  will  be  likely  to  greet 
his  recurring  appeal  to  their  suffrages. 


A 

>rese$tg  the  thirty^foyrth  Gongres- 
late  of  New  York,  cam  prising  the  "conn- 

ri»->  s  and  Niagara;  was  bdm  at  Wimlham,  Cfreifti 

Uiat  state,  on  the  5th-  "of  -.£.».  '  I .     He  4s  de- 

d  from  revolutionary  stock,  seF^ntf  of  te  Mndretl  having 
b^eff  engaged  in  the  struggle  ie>?  indeppndence.     Hi 
tber-^a  surgeon  in  the  ^army,  I 
mafemal  grandmother 
regret  It  Was  "that  he  had  but 

In  the  year  1818,  while •  Washington  Tlutit  was  yet  in  early 
ohildfitfbdj  Im  •  •  the  GecBsee 

v,  in  W<  gr,  LivJD;'- 


' 

;thful 
T  of  Gen- 

.    fie  ftdvoeafed  the^rieetibn  of  Mr.Vair  Buren  in 
l$3&:    A^the^s'arne  canvass  he  *vas  4  candidate  for  Coegsress, 
• 

wis  ^ppoifitect  first  jaxJge  of  Niagara  ct^tirnty,  awl 
f  ->  M  ^^'-ietl  in  -its  -civil  and  criminal  courts.  • 

d,  gave  gen$ial  i?a^factibn.  - 

it  m-  'iijagest  judge  of  & 

Yet  he-  dischars^ 


:^_^  hicii^WflfBL  4he  r    -        1]L  _ 

He  displayed  those  essential  qualities  of  judicial  excellence,  a 
quick  perception,  sound  judgment,  promptness  of  decision,  and 

341 


342  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

readiness  in  applying  the  principles  of  jurisprudence  to  com 
plex  transactions  and  ever-varying  facts.  His  constitutional 
term  of  service  having  expired,  he  was  urged  to  accept  a  reap- 
pointment,  which,  however,  he  declined.  On  his  retirement  in 
the  early  part  of  1841,  the  following  proceedings  took  place : 

"  Meeting  of  the  Bar. — At  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the 
Niagara  county  bar,  held  at  the  Court-house,  in  the  village  of 
Lockport,  on  the  4th  day  of  February,  1811,  the  Honorable  H, 
Gardner  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  M.  M.  Southworth  appoint 
ed  secretary. 

"  The  following  call  was  read : 

"  A  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  bar  of  Niagara  county  is 
requested  to  be  held  on  Thursday,  the  4th  of  February  instant, 
at  one  o'clock,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  their  approbation 
of  the  manner  in  which  Judge  Hunt,  whose  term  of  office,  as 
first  judge  of  this  county,  is  about  to  expire,  has  discharged  his 
official  duties. 

"  Lockport,  February  1,  1841. 

"  L.  H.  Nicholls,  H.  B.  Walbridge,       L.  Bement, 

H.  K.  Hopkins,  J.  C.  Morse,  E.  I.  Chase, 

Henry  M.  Stewart,       H.  H.  Stuart,  H.  C.  Clark, 

Seth  C.  Hart,  S.  B.  Piper,  J.  L.  Woods, 

R.  H.  Stevens,  S.  Caverno,  H.  A.  Carter, 

M.  M.  Southworth,       A.  Holmes,  E.  Newton, 

A.  A.  Boyce,  C.  R.  Parker,  A.  C.  Bradley. 

T.  J.  Wisner,  J.  L.  Cuttenius,         M.  L.  Burrall. 

"  The  following  resolution  was  then  offered,  and,  on  motion, 
unanimously  adopted : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Honorable  Washington  Hunt,  in  retir 
ing  from  the  office  of  first  judge  of  the  county  of  Niagara,  will 
carry  with  him  the  kind  and  grateful  recollections  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  bar  of  this  county,  not  only  as  a  judge,  possessing 
a  clear  and  comprehensive  mind,  combined  with  a  firm,  inde 
pendent,  and  dignified  deportment,  but  as  a  man  and  a  private 
citizen. 

"  On  motion, 

"Resolved,  That  the  chairman  and  secretary  communicate 
the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  to  Judge  Hunt,  and  that  the 
same  be  published  in  the  Lockport  papers. 
"  On  motion,  the  meeting  then  adjourned." 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  343 

"  LOCKPORT,  February,  4,  1841. 

"Hon.  W.  HUNT: 

"  DEAR  SIR, — In  communicating  to  you  the  accompanying 
proceedings  of  a  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Niagara  county 
bar,  permit  us  to  add,  that  while  we  feel  a  pleasure  in  being 
made  the  organs  of  this  communication,  we  can  not  withhold 
the  expression  of  our  regret  that  the  judiciary  of  this  county  is 
to  be  deprived  so  soon  of  your  assistance,  by  the  expiration  of 
your  official  term.  Yours,  &c., 

"  H.  GARDNER, 

"  M.  M.  SOUTHWORTH." 
"  LOCKPORT,  February,  5,  184  J. 

"  GENTLEMEN, — Your  note  of  yesterday,  communicating  a 
resolution  of  the  bar  of  this  county,  approbative  of  my  official 
conduct  and  deportment,  was  received  with  deep  sensibility. 
This  kind  expression  of  respect  and  good- will  has  filled  me  with' 
emotions  of  gratitude  which  I  can  not  adequately  express. 

"  I  am,  however,  but  too  sensible  that  the  approbation  of  the 
bar,  so  generously  expressed  and  so  gratefully  appreciated,  is 
not  deserved  by  any  qualifications  or  merits  of  mine  beyond 
the  earnest  desire  I  have  felt  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  my  place 
with  integrity  and  impartiality. 

"  In  my  endeavors  to  preserve  the  authority  and  respectabil 
ity  of  our  county  court,  I  have  been  sustained  by  the  co-opera 
tion  and  manly  courtesy  of  the  bar,  which  alone  can  impart  dig 
nity  and  decorum  to  judicial  proceedings,  give  to  the  legal  pro 
fession  its  just  elevation,  and  ensure  respect  to  its  individual 
members.  To  this  invajuable  aid  and  support  may  be  attribu 
ted  whatever  success  has  attended  my  official  labors. 

"  Permit  me,  through  you,  to  express  to  the  members  of  the 
bar  my  sincere  thanks  for  the  uniform  cordiality  and  forbear 
ance  which  I  have  experienced  at  their  hands,  and  to  assure 
them  that  I  shall  ever  cherish  the  memory  of  our  kindly  rela 
tions  among  the  most  agreeable  recollections  of  my  life. 
"  With  sincere  attachment  and  regard, 

"  Yours  truly,  W.  HUNT. 

"  To  H.  GARDNER  and  M.  M.  SOUTHWORTH,  Esq's." 

For  some  years,  during  the  period  of  his  judicial  service,  Mr. 
Hunt  withdrew  from  all  political  participation  in  political  con- 


344  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

tests.  During  this  period,  the  relative  position  'of  parties  was 
rapidly  changing,  and  his  political  opinions  experienced  a  mate 
rial  modification.  He  was  one  of  the  many  original  supporters 
of  Mr.  Van  Buren  who  dissented  from  the  general  policy  of 
his  administration,  and  especially  from  the  new  measures  in 
troduced  in  relation  to  the  currency  and  the  public  finances. 
He  was  opposed  to  what  he  considered  the  radical  doctrines,  vi 
olent  innovations,  and  disorganizing  tendencies  which  from  that 
time  distinguished  the  progress  of  the  Democratic  party.  In  a 
word,  his  views  were  naturally  conservative,  and  favorable  to 
the  preservation  of  existing  relations  and  established  institu 
tions.  An  original  and  constant  advocate  of  the  protective  sys 
tem,  of  a  distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public 
lands  among  the  states,  of  improvements  of  lake  and  river  nav 
igation  by  the  Federal  government,  and  friendly  to  a  liberal 
financial  system  adapted  to  the  commercial  enterprise  and  bu 
siness  interests  of  the  country,  he  found  himself  widely  sepa 
rated  from  his  old  political  associates.  In  regard  to  these  prom 
inent  measures  of  national  policy,  his  views  harmonized  with 
those  avowed  by  the  Whig  party,  and  he  did  not  permit  former 
differences  to  restrain  him  from  the  free  and  independent  ex 
pression  of  his  opinions. 

Whether  his  political  views  were  right  or  wrong,  it  is  not  our 
province  to  discusfe ;  but  the  sincerity  of  his  convictions,  and  his 
fearlessness  in  maintaining  them,  are  conceded  by  all.  It  may 
truly  be  said  that  his  most  prominent  characteristics  are  frank 
ness  and  independence  in  the  expression  of  his  opinions,  regard 
less  of  party  dictation,  and  uncontrolled  by  the  trammels  of  po 
litical  organization.  Ever  ready  to  act  with  his  party  in  sup 
port  of  what  he  conceives  to  be  wise  and  beneficial  measures, 
he  aims  to  govern  his  course  by  those  paramount  obligations 
which  every  citizen  owes  to  his  country. 

In  the  year  1842  he  was  strongly  solicited  to  become  the 
candidate  of  the  Whig  party  for  representative  in  Congress. 
Consulting  only  his  own  disposition,  he  would  have  declined 
the  offer  ;  but  his  friends  were  urgent,  and  he  was  nominated, 
without  a  dissenting  voice,  by  the  Whig  District  Convention. 
He  was  elected  by  a  fair  majority.  .His  personal  popularity 
was  great — so  much  so,  that  many  of  the  opposite  party  gave 
him  their  suffrages,  knowing  that  his  voice  and  his  vote  must, 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  345 

in  many  important  measures,  be  found  against  their  own  prin 
ciples.  Of  the  estimate  which  his  constituents  placed  upon  his 
character,  no  stronger  evidence  need  be  adduced  than  the  sim 
ple  statement  of  the  fact  that  he  has,  without  solicitation,  been 
regularly  renominated  for  the  same  office,  and  re-elected  by 
largely  increased  majorities. 

As  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  he  directed 
his  early,  but  fruitless  efforts  toward  the  procurement  of  an 
amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  providing 
that  ' '  no  person  shall  be  hereafter  eligible  to  the  office  of  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  who  shall  have  been  previously  elect 
ed  to  the  said  office,  and  who  shall  have  accepted  the  same,  or 
exercised  the  powers  thereof."  He  has  never  lost  sight  of  this 
proposition,  nor  omitted,  on  every  appropriate  occasion,  to  urge 
it  upon  the  consideration  of  Congress.  At  a  more  recent  pe 
riod,  he  endeavored,  unsuccessfully,  to  introduce  a  proposition, 
engrafting  on  the  same  instrument  an  additional  amendment, 
providing  that  "  the  President  shall  not  nominate  or  appoint  to 
any  office,  civil  or  military,  any  member  of  either  house  of 
Congress,  nor  any  person  who  shall  have  been  a  member  of 
either  house  of  Congress  at  any  time  during  the  official  term 
of  such  President." 

We  have  adverted  to  the  consistency  of  his  views  in  regard 
to  lake  and  river  navigation.  To  these  views  all  his  votes  have 
conformed.  He  early  declared  that  "  he  looked  upon  the  inter 
ests  of  every  portion  of  this  Union  as  American  interests,  and7 
as  such,  he  was  interested  in  them,  and  would  support  them. 
He  professed  to  be  in  favor  of  a  liberal  policy  in  relation  to 
public  improvements ;  and  as  complaints  had  been  made  by 
Western  men  that  the  West  had  been  neglected,  he  charged 
that  neglect  upon  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration.  He  in 
timated  that  a  change  on  this  subject  was  observable  from 
the  doctrines  entertained  during  the  administration  of  General 
Jackson."  In  uniform  keeping,  also,  with  the  opinions  he  en 
tertained,  have  been  his  votes  on  the  maintenance  of  the  pro 
tective  system,  and  on  all  those  financial  experiments  which 
have  distinguished  the  administration  of  the  government  for 
some  years  past. 

Among  other  measures  which  he  has  introduced  or  advocated 
has  been  the  construction  of  a  ship  canal  around  the  Falls  of 


346  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

Niagara,  for  the  purpose  of  connecting  Lakes  Ontario  and 
Erie. 

The  public  are  aware  that  politicians  of  both  parties  have 
had  their  attention  drawn,  by  recent  occurrences,  to  the  subject 
of  the  Naturalization  Laws.  The  opinions  of  Mr.  Hunt  have 
been  expressed  without  reserve.  On  the  29th  of  December, 
1845,  when  certain  resolutions  from  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  asking  "  for  such  amendments  to 
the  Naturalization  Laws  as  would  protect  the  ballot-box  and 
the  elective  franchise  from  abuses  and  frauds"  [see  title,  J.  R. 
INGERSOLL],  were  under  consideration,  he  thus  expressed  himself: 

"  He  did  not  doubt  that  our  present  naturalization  laws  are 
in  some  respects  defective,  or  that  serious  abuses  exist  in  their 
administration.  He  was  convinced  that  enormous  frauds  have 
been  perpetrated,  as  well  by  conferring  the  high  immunities  of 
citizenship  upon  those  who  were  not  entitled  to  the  privilege 
under  existing  laws,  as  by  the  usurpation  and  exercise  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  by  aliens  who  have  never  complied  with  any 
of  the  legal  formalities  of  naturalization ;  not  to  speak  of  colo 
nizing,  double  voting,  and  other  forms  of  corruption,  which  can 
be  reached  only  by  state  legislation.  He  desired  to  see  such  a 
revisal  of  the  code,  such  new  and  stringent  provisions,  as  shall 
effectually  prevent  these  abuses  in  future,  and  put  an  end  to 
the  abominable  traffic  in  illegal  votes  which  has  become  the 
scourge  and  disgrace  of  our  larger  cities.  The  evil  has  arrived 
at  a  magnitude  so  startling,  and  has  of  late  been  marked  by 
such  boldness  of  atrocity,  as  to  call  loudly  for  redress ;  and 
nothing  less  than  ample  and  effective  legislation,  adapted  to  the 
case,  affording  a  remedy  which  shall  renovate  the  body  politic, 
and  stay  the  progress  of  corruption,  will  satisfy  the  country. 

"  That  abuses  exist  which  demand  a  corrective  will  not  be 
denied.  In  all  remedial  measures,  calculated  to  eradicate  the 
evils  so  generally  complained  of,  he  was  prepared  to  co-operate, 
and  would  proceed  as  far  as  those  who  go  farthest.  The  party 
with  which  it  was  his  pride  to  act  in  the  support  of  what  he  con 
ceived  to  be  great  national  measures  and  beneficent  purposes, 
are  united  as  one  man  upon  this  vital  principle  of  preserving 
the  right  of  suffrage  unprofaned  and  unpolluted,  as  the  most 
sacred  birthright  of  a  free  people.  The  Whigs  of  the  nation 
call  upon  the  political  majority  of  this  House,  on  whom  rests 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  347 

the  responsibility  to  guard  and  defend  the  elective  franchise. 
Honest  men  of  all  parties  demand  it,  whether  native  or  adopt 
ed.  The  adopted  citizen  who  has  complied  with  our  laws  in 
good  faith,  and  who  desires  to  identify  his  personal  honor  with 
the  welfare  of  the  country,  must  feel  a  double  motive  to  protect 
the  privilege  of  citizenship  from  unlawful  encroachments. 

"•The  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  which 
had  given  rise  to  this  discussion,  if  he  rightly  understood  them, 
contemplated  nothing  more  than  an  inquiry  into  frauds  and 
abuses,  and  such  legislation  as  may  be  necessary  to  prevent  cor 
rupt  and  illegal  practices.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  reme 
dy  will  prove  effectual  until  our  courts  of  justice,  to  whom  is  in 
trusted  the  administration  of  the  law,  shall  have  been  purified 
of  party  influences.  If  there  be  a  character  on  earth  which, 
more  than  any  other,  deserves  the  execration  of  God  and  man, 
it  is  a  political  judge  who  pollutes  the  ermine  of  justice,  and 
prostitutes  his  sacred  functions  to  the  furtherance  of  party 
schemes  and  purposes.  I  consider  it  the  most  deplorable  and 
appalling  evil  of  the  time  that  the  unclean  spirit  of  party  has 
been  permitted  to  invade  the  tribunals  of  justice,  and  enter  the 
judgment-seat,  to  inflame  the  counsels  of  sworn  judges.  As  a 
spectacle,  it  shocks  every  virtuous,  manly  sensibility  ;  as  a  prac 
tice,  it  is  the  prolific  mother  of  mischief  and  corruption.  It  is 
undeniable  that  too  many  of  our  courts,  in  the  exercise  of  this 
branch  of  their  powers,  following  the  baneful  example  of  other 
departments  of  government,  have  lent  themselves  to  party  ex 
igencies,  and  become  part  and  parcel  of  the  political  machinery 
for  controlling  and  carrying  elections.  On  the  eve  of  important 
elections,  they  operate  as  a  party  apparatus  for  the  manufacture 
of  a  sufficient  supply  of  voters,  frequently  conferring  citizenship 
without  adequate  proof,  the  artful  and  seeming  compliance  with 
forms  serving  only  to  aggravate  the  mockery  of  substantial  law 
and  justice.  Unless  this  profanation  of  judicial  powers  is  frown 
ed  upon  by  the  righteous  sentiment  of  the  country,  if  we  have 
reached  that  stage  of  profligacy  where  partisan  courts  will  be 
tolerated  by  popular  opinion,  then  is  it  time  for  us  as  a  people  to 
repeat  the  exclamation,  *  We  are  rotten  before  we  are  ripe.' 

"  But  he  rejoiced  in  the  conviction  that  a  more  healthy  tone 
of  public  feeling  prevails.  Notwithstanding  the  inroads  of  profli 
gacy  and  corruption,  a  sentiment  of  virtue  pervades  the  body 


£48  HISTORY  OF    CONGRESS. 

of  our  countrymen  which  will  yet  be  heard  and  felt,  demanding 
integrity  and  fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  public  responsibilities. 
It  will  rise  above  the  trammels  of  party  discipline,  and  visit  se 
vere  condemnation  upon  all  who  seek  to  gain  political  or  per 
sonal  ascendency  by  dishonorable  expedients. 

"  In  regard  to  the  particular  reference  of  these  resolutions,  he 
had  but  little  to  say.  He  preferred  to  leave  that  question  to  the 
political  majority  here,  who  alone  have  the  power  to  reform  abus 
es  and  vindicate  the  violated  sanctity  of  the  elective  franchise. 

"  He  regretted  that  this  proposition  to  prevent  frauds  and  re 
store  the  integrity  of  the  ballot-box  should  have  'been  made  the 
occasion  for  a  discussion  of  a  radical  change  in  the  fundamental 
principle  of  our  system  of  naturalization.  He  viewed  that  as 
a  very  different  question,  and  believed  the  proposed  change  of 
system,  by  which  it  is  intended  to  exclude  foreigners  from  a 
participation  in  the  rights  of  citizenship,  would  find  but  little 
favor,  either  in  this  House  or  the  country.  He  wished  to  speak 
with  all  due  respect  and  kindness  of  that  portion  of  our  citizens 
who  have  thought  it  their  duty  to  form  a  political  association 
under  the  designation  of  Native  Americans.  To  many  of  them 
he  freely  accorded  the  highest  integrity  and  patriotism  of  pur- 


"It  was  unnecessary  to  say  to  the  representatives  here  of 
that  party  from  his  own  state,  that  he  entertained  toward  them 
personally  the  most  cordial  sentiments  of  friendship  and  esteem ; 
and,  compelled  as  he  was  to  differ  from  them,  he  assured  them 
it  was  '  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger.'  But,  in  the  discussion 
of  important  questions,  there  was  but  one  course  for  him  to 
pursue  compatible  with  his  self-respect  and  sense  of  duty ;  that 
is,  to  express  his  convictions  with  firmness,  sincerity,  and  inde 
pendence,  without  respect  to  persons  or  consequences.  To  the 
principle  which  aims  to  exclude  foreigners  from  citizenship,  or 
to  extend  the  length  of  previous  residence  beyond  the  term  now 
established  by  law,  he  was  constrained  to  declare  his  unquali 
fied  and  irreconcilable  hostility.  When  a  great  elementary  re 
form  is  proposed,  affecting  so  vital  a  right  of  freeborn  men,  we 
are  bound  to  inquire,  in  a  spirit  of  candor,  first,  whether  the 
change  is  desirable  ;  and,  in  the  next  place,  if  desirable,  wheth 
er  it  be  attainable.  Upon  either  of  these  tests  he  considered  the 
plan  utterly  inadmissible. 


. 

WASHINGTON   HUNT.  349 

"  The  condition  of  our  country,  the  nature  of  our  institu 
tions,  and  the  spirit  of  our  people,  are  all  incompatible  with  an 
illiberal  policy  toward  emigrants  from  foreign  lands,  who  seek 
our  shores  to  better  their  condition.  We  are  impelled  by  every 
generous  impulse  to  embrace  them  as  friends  and  brothers,  in 
stead  of  repulsing  them  from  us  as  aliens,  unworthy  to  share 
the  fruits  of  our  glorious  political  heritage.  They  come  hither 
as  our  fathers  came,  to  seek  a  home  for  themselves  and  their 
posterity.  They  come  to  subject  themselves  to  our  laws  and 
institutions,  to  aid  us  in  the  work  of  constitutional  liberty  and 
human  advancement — in  a  word,  to  unite  with  us  in  common 
perils  and  a  common  destiny.  Why,  then,  shall  we  attempt 
to  deprive  them  of  a  just  and  equal  participation  in  the  choice 
of  public  agents,  and  the  adoption  of  laws  which  are  no  less 
applicable  to  them  than  to  ourselves?  A  reasonable  term  of 
probation,  sufficient  to  test  their  intentions,  to  acquaint  them 
with  the  condition  of  our  affairs  and  the  tendency  of  measures, 
to  inform  them  of  our  laws,  manners,  and  institutions,  is  un 
doubtedly  requisite ;  but  I  believe  the  term  of  five  years  now 
established  is  sufficient  for  these  purposes.  A  prolongation  of 
the  period  would,  in  my  judgment,  produce  no  mitigation  of 
evils  which  are  justly  complained  of,  and  would  only  serve  to 
inflame  discontent,  engender  discord,  and  keep  alive  unnatural 
and  dangerous  distinctions.  If  it  be  said  that  foreigners  are 
ignorant,  I  would  inquire  if  ignorance  may  not  be  found  among 
too  many  of  our  own  American-born  people,  who  participate, 
by  common  consent,  in  the  sovereignty  of  the  country  ?  That 
many  emigrants  are  ignorant  is  undeniable ;  but  that  many  of 
them  are  fitted  by  their  intelligence  for  the  highest  usefulness, 
is  equally  certain.  If  it  be  said  that  many  of  them  are  factious, 
let  me  ask  who  is  more  dangerous  or  more  worthy  of  our  de 
nunciation  than  the  domestic  demagogue,  <  to  the  manor  born/ 
who  seeks  to  perpetuate  and  mislead  ignorance  to  his  own  base 
uses  ?  Yes,  sir,  the  domestic  demagogue,  the  ever-present 
curse  and  foe  of  all  good  citizens,  whether  native  or  adopted ! 
If  it  be  said  that  they  are  poor,  it  may  be  replied  that  poverty 
is  not  peculiar  to  any  nation,  and  it  should  be  the  boast  of  ours 
that  here  a  broad  field  is  open  where  honest  industry  may  find 
a  sure  reward,  and  win  for  itself  comfort,  independence,  and 
respectability.  We  all  know  that  many  foreigners  come  among 


350  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

us  poor  and  needy ;  but  a  majority  of  these,  if  I  may  speak 
from  my  own  observation,  bring  with  them  honest  hearts,  man 
ly  resolves,  and  strong  hands,  ready  to  toil  and  suffer  in  the 
pursuit  of  a  virtuous  livelihood  for  themselves  and  their  families. 
"  Sir,  I  disdain  to  employ  the  language  of  flattery  toward 
any  man  or  class  of  men,  native  or  foreign.  Instead  of  address 
ing  them  as  gods,  I  have  never  feared  to  remind  the  people  of 
the  imperfections  which  are  inseparable  to  human  condition, 
and  to  warn  them  of  the  dangers  to  which  they  are  exposed 
from  vice,  ignorance,  and  the  seductive  arts  of  party  politicians. 
That  the  emigrant  is  exposed,  in  a  peculiar  manner,  to  the 
wiles  of  the  demagogue,  is  known  to  us  all.  He  is  too  liable 
to  be  misled  by  false  aspersions  and  unmeaning  professions.  He 
is  soon  sought  out  by  that  disinterested  class  of  patriots  who 
drive  a  trade  in  politics.  He  is  overwhelmed  with  lavish  pro 
testations  of  generosity,  friendship,  and  devotion;  and,  "to 
heighten  at  once  his  gratitude  and  wonder,  he  is  assured  that 
a  large  portion  of  our  countrymen  are  hostile  to  liberty,  at  war 
with  the  poor,  and  intent  on  establishing  the  modes  of  aristoc 
racy  and  despotism  which  prevail  in  the  Old  World.  His 
mind  is  inflamed  with  false  prejudices  toward  his  best  friends, 
who  are  struggling  to  advance  the  interests  and  welfare  of  all 
our  people,  and,  enlisted  under  party  colors,  he  sometimes  fol 
lows  the  path  which  leads  to  his  own  destruction.  That  he 
should  yield  to  the  arts  of  the  seducer  is  not  more  strange  than 
that  our  first  mother  should  have  listened  to  the  primitive  dem 
agogue  who  whispered  discontent  in  Paradise.  It  is  to  be  de 
plored  as  a  public  misfortune,  that  foreigners,  in  the  morning 
of  their  residence  here,  are  exposed  to  these  malign  efforts  and 
influences.  The  responsibility  rests,  not  upon  the  innocent 
victims  of  delusion,  but  upon  the  native-born  politician  who 
leads  them  astray.  While  all  good  men  should  regret  that  the 
more  ignorant  portion  of  our  people,  native  or  adopted,  are  so 
liable  to  be  misled  from  their  own  true  happiness  by  party  spir 
it,  it  is  idle  to  indulge  feelings  of  petulance  or  complaint,  or  to 
attempt  changes  which  shall  exclude  any  class  from  a  partici 
pation  in  public  concerns.  It  would  be  equally  wise  to  com 
plain  that  men  are  not  angels,  and  abandon  the  great  experi 
ment  of  free  government. 

"If  it  be  inquired  what  is  to  be  done ?  are  the  foreigners  in 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  351 

our  country  to  be  marshaled  in  hosts  against  the  welfare  of 
their  adopted  land  ?  and  is  there  no  remedy  ?  I  would  say  to 
those  who  propose  a  system  of  exclusion,  that,  in  my  judgment, 
they  have  mistaken  the  nature  of  the  disease,  and  the  extreme 
resort  to  amputation  will  but  tend  to  increase  the  evil  and  ren 
der  it  incurable.  <  Native  Americanism'  is  not  the  true  reme 
dy.  There  are  political  as  well  as  physical  disorders  for  which 
time  is  the  only  infallible  physician.  Foreign  emigrants  may 
be  deluded  for  a  season  ;  but  for  this  time  is  the  unfailing,  the 
only  corrective.  Denunciation,  reproach,  intolerance,  violence 
of  language  or  of  conduct,  will  but  retard  the  consummation 
which  all  true  Americans  should  desire.  Experience,  observa 
tion,  intercourse  with  our  people,  will  rapidly  Americanize  the 
foreigner,  and  divest  his  mind  of  unfounded  prejudices.  It 
should  be  our  aim  to  inform,  to  enlighten,  to  elevate,  and  un 
deceive  him.  Thousands  of  emigrants  have  already  discovered, 
and,  if  a  kindly  policy  is  pursued,  every  year  will  swell  the 
number  of  those  who  perceive,  the  worthlessness  of  unmean 
ing  flattery  and  sounding  professions,  and  the  true  importance 
of  wise  and  beneficent  measures  of  government.  Those  who 
complain  that  five  years  is  too  short  a  term,  would  do  wisely  to 
reflect  that  years  are  rolling  on,  and  at  every  annual  revolution 
the  foreigner  is  becoming  more  thoroughly  naturalized  in  mind 
and  heart,  and  more  intimately  incorporated  with  the  body  of 
our  people.  New  ties  multiply  around  him,  and  his  constant 
progress  in  knowledge  and  improvement  fix  him  more  firmly 
to  our  soil,  forming  him  a  wiser  and  a  better  citizen." 

Mr.  Hunt  voted  in  favor  of  all  peaceful  resorts  for  the  settle 
ment  of  the  Oregon  dispute,  because  he  believed  that  it  was 
susceptible  of  a  fair  and  equitable  arrangement  honorable  to 
both  parties.  He  opposed  the  annexation  of  Texas  upon  "high 
national  grounds  ;"  and  his  belief  (he  said)  that  it  would  involve 
this  country  in  a  war  with  Mexico  was  not  among  the  least  of 
his  objections.  Speaking,  on  a  subsequent  day,  of  annexation, 
he  said : 

"  He  still  deplored  that  event,  but  it  was  now  consummated. 
Texas  formed  a  constituent  portion  of  the  Union,  and  he  felt 
ready  to  act  toward  her  with  the  same  liberality,  the  same  pa 
triotism  and  equal  justice  which  he  would  manifest  toward  any 
other  of  the  states  of  the  confederacy.  He  should  not  now  re- 


352  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

vive  a  topic  which  was  calculated  only  to  excite  unpleasant  feel 
ing.  He  deprecated  all  attempts  to  keep  up  those  feelings  of 
irritation  which  had  in  part  subsided.  He  desired  to  see  a  gen 
eral  acquiescence  in  that  which  was  now  past  and  could  not  be 
recalled.  He  would  appeal  to  the  entire  American  people  to  ac 
quiesce  in  a  spirit  of  enlarged  patriotism,  to  allay  sectional  an 
imosities,  and  cultivate  a  feeling  of  nationality,  and  to  strength 
en  that  common  bond  which  was  our  only  reliance  for  sustain 
ing  the  honor  and  perpetuity  of  the  Union." 

The  war  came,  and  he  voted  all  supplies  asked  for  its  prose 
cution.*  "  Whatever,"  he  said,  "  might  be  his  opinion  of  the 
causes  which  produced  the  collision,  while  the  country  was  in 
actual  war  with  a  foreign  power  there  was  but  one  course  for 
him  to  pursue,  and  that  was,  to  support  all  proper  measures  for 
its  energetic  prosecution." 

He  nevertheless  believed  that  the  measures  which  led  to  the 
war  were  unconstitutional ;  and  he  thus  vindicated  himself,  and 
those  who  had  acted  with  him,  from  the  reproaches  cast  upon 
them  for  the  opinions  they  entertained : 

"  It  had  been  said  that  there  were  some  politicians  who  were 
always  ready  to  surrender  territory  that  was  in  dispute.  It  had 
become  very  common  in  these  days  to  cast  indiscriminate  re 
proach  on  those  who  preferred  to  settle  vexed  questions  of  bound 
ary  in  a  pacific  manner.  To  claim  all  and  concede  nothing  was 
now  held  to  be  the  quintessence  of  patriotism.  But  he  would 
recognize  no  such  test.  He  wanted  to  see  these  questions  dis 
cussed  in  an  honorable  and  a  candid  spirit,  according  to  the 
moral  considerations  of  right  and  wrong.  He  was  for  respect 
ing  the  rights  of  others  without  surrendering  our  own.  There 
was  a  class  of  politicians  who  seemed  disposed  to  make  use  of 
all  questions  touching  the  foreign  relations  of  the  country  merely 
as  means  and  instruments  of  party  aggrandizement  and  the  ac 
quisition  of  power,  and  hence  they  contrived  to  present  these 
questions  in  such  a  form  as  to  compel  the  minority  to  vote  against 
them." 

And  again : 

*  The  vote  on  the  Declaratory  War  Bill  [see  title,  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP]  does 
not  include  the  name  of  Mr.  Hunt.  He  left  Washington  City  about  the  1st  of  May, 
intending  to  return  by  the  9th,  but  was  detained  until  the  12th,  the  day  after  the 
bill  passed  the  House. 


WASHINGTON  HUNT.  353 

"  This  attempt  to  present  the  minority  before  the  country  in 
the  unpopular  light  of  a  peace  party  was  wholly  without  foun 
dation  ;  it  was  not  justified  by  their  acts,  neither  would  it  be. 
Gentlemen  seemed  to  think  that  power  and  patriotism  were 
identical ;  and  because  they  had  all  of  the  one,  they  must,  of 
course,  monopolize  the  other.  But  if  it  was  glory  to  maintain 
the  national  rights  and  vindicate  the  national  flag,  that  was  a 
glory  shared  equally  by  both  sides  of  the  House. 

"  He  was  for  a  bold  and  decisive,  not  for  a  lingering  war.  It 
should  be  sharp  and  short.  This  was  the  way  to  secure  an  econ 
omy  both  of  money  and  of  human  life.  He  hoped  a  high  na 
tional  spirit  would  be  found  to  prevail,  and  that  the  war  would 
be  prosecuted  till  the  rights  and  honor  of  the  country  were  fully 
vindicated. 

"  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  (Mr.  Dromgoole)  has  alluded 
to  the  objects  of  the  war,  and  the  spirit  in  which  he  would  wage 
the  contest.  While  he  would  pursue  the  Mexicans  in  a  spirit 
of  vengeance,  his  patriotism  revels  in  the  prospect  of  large  in 
demnities  of  land  and  money.  National  honor  is  also  to  be  meas 
ured  by  leagues,  and  all  our  wrongs,  real  or  imaginary,  will  be 
healed  by  the  addition  of  fresh  provinces  and  enlarged  dominion. 
Mr.  Hunt  would  pursue  the  contest  in  a  different  spirit.  He 
wished  to  see  it  prosecuted  with  decisive  force  and  efficiency  till 
we  could  secure  an  honorable  peace ;  but  when  the  time  shall 
arrive  to  dictate  the  terms  of  peace  to  Mexico,  he  hoped  to  wit 
ness  a  display  of  justice  and  generous  magnanimity.  If  we 
could  conquer  our  own  rapacity,  and  restrain  the  lust  of  terri 
torial  acquisition,  we  should  achieve  a  moral  victory  more  glo 
rious  than  the  trophies  of  war.  In  imposing  the  conditions  of 
amity,  he  hoped  we  migh^t  exhibit  a  spirit  of  moderation  and 
forbearance  becoming  a  great  republic  conscious  of  its  power. 
By  our  rectitude  and  generosity  in  the  hour  of  victory,  we  might 
yet  do  something  to  restore  the  drooping  honor  of  the  country. 
When  that  hour  should  come,  we  must  not  disguise  it  from  our 
selves  that  appearances  were  against  us.  While  we  are  strong 
and  powerful,  Mexico  is  feeble  and  distracted ;  and  we  are  al 
ready  in  possession  of  a  vast  territory  which  was  recently  wrest 
ed  from  her  by  our  own  people.  But  a  war  is  upon  us ;  and 
while  it  continues,  it  must  be  prosecuted  with  vigor,  and  men 
of  all  parties  must  co-operate,  by  united  counsels  and  common 

VOL.  I.— Z 


354  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

efforts,  to  bring  the  struggle  to  a  speedy  and  honorable  termi 
nation." 

He  has  opposed  the  acquisition  of  Mexican  territory  under 
all  circumstances,  whether  as  territory  conquered,  or  purchased, 
or  obtained  under  the  guise  of  indemnity  for  expenses  of  the  war  ; 
and  he  has  insisted  upon  the  incumbent  duty  of  Congress  to 
declare  what  were  the  purposes  and  objects  for  which  the  war 
was  waged.  He  resisted  the  idea  that  such  declarations  would 
be  inconsistent  with  the  honor  of  the  country,  and  her  high  po 
sition  before  the  world. 

"  There  were  many  examples,"  he  said,  "  both  in  ancient  and 
in  modern  times,  which  were  applicable  to  the  existing  state  of 
our  affairs.  Without  multiplying  citations,  he  would  call  the 
attention  of  gentlemen  to  one  of  the  leading  events  in  modern 
history.  He  referred  to  the  contest  of  England  and  her  allies 
against  the  conquering  ambition  of  France,  and  which  resulted 
in  the  overthrow  of  the  dominion  of  Napoleon.  After  the  close 
of  the  memorable  campaign  of  1813,  in  which,  at  the  great  bat 
tle  of  Leipsic,  the  French  army  was  utterly  routed,  and  its 
leader  driven  with  his  shattered  forces  within  the  limits  of  the 
French  territory,  England  and  her  allies,  being  then  completely 
victorious,  could  dictate  their  own  terms  to  the  vanquished 
warrior.  Yet,  in  a  speech  from  the  throne,  made  in  London  in 
November  of  the  same  year,  it  was  declared  that  England  en 
tertained  no  disposition  to  exact  sacrifices  from  France  which 
were  inconsistent  with  her  national  honor  and  all  her  just  pre 
tensions,  and  that  no  such  requirements  should  present  an  ob 
stacle  to  a  general  peace  in  Europe. 

"  The  British  Parliament  responded  to  the  speech  ;  and,  aft 
er  the  French  forces  were  driven  into  France,  and  before  the 
allies  entered  on  the  French  soil,  they  put  forth  a  manifesto 
expressive  of  their  desire  that  France  should  remain  powerful 
and  happy,  and  especially  disavowing  all  purpose  of  conquering 
any  portion  of  territory  legitimately  pertaining  to  that  kingdom. 
If  to  the  pride  of  England  and  of  all  Europe  in  arms,  when  invad 
ing  a  country  they  had  subdued,  it  did  not  appear  to  be  against 
their  honor  to  make  such  a  declaration,  could  it  be  inconsistent 
with  the  honor  of  the  United  States,  and  the  dignified  position 
they  occupied  before  the  nations  of  the  world,  for  them,  in  like 
manner,  after  all  their  triumphs,  to  declare  that  they  waged  the 


WASHINGTON    HUNT.  355 

war,  not  to  dismember  Mexico,  but  to  obtain  their  just  dues,  es 
tablish  their  true  boundary,  and  secure  their  national  rights 
against  future  aggression?  Such  a  declaration  would  carry 
with  it  a  mighty  moral  influence  :  it  would  unite  our  people  in 
the  war  ;  it  would  quiet  the  fears  of  those  who  were  now  inclin 
ed  to  suspect  and  to  fear  the  results  of  the  contest." 

Carrying  out  these  views,  he  offered  a  declaratory  resolution 
"  that  the  war  with  Mexico  shall  be  prosecuted,  not  with  a  view 
to  conquest  or  to  dismember  the  territory  of  Mexico,  as  recog 
nized  by  us  ante  bellum,  but  to  establish  a  just  line  of  bound 
ary,  and  to  secure  an  honorable  adjustment  of  all  pending  differ 
ences."  He  contended  that  "  we  already  possessed  as  much 
territory  as  we  ought  to  desire ;  enough  for  every  rational  and 
enlightened  purpose  ;  enough  for  ourselves  and  the  generations 
which  are  to  come  after  us  ;  enough  to  gratify  even  the  extrav 
agance  of  national  pride  and  ambition." 

And,  when  giving  his  vote  in  favor  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso, 
he  said : 

"  Slavery  having  been  extended  over  the  Louisiana  and  Flor 
ida  purchase,  and,  finally,  over  Texas,  the  free  states  have  pro 
nounced,  '  Thus  far  and  no  farther  !'  We  insist  that  this  com 
mon  government  of  ours  shall  not  be  employed  to  spread  slave 
ry  over  territory  now  free ;  that  human  bondage  shall  not  be 
carried  into  other  lands  under  our  national  flag ;  and  that  our 
armies  shall  not  go  forth  under  the  colors  of  freedom  as  the 
propagandists  of  slavery.  That,  sir,  is  the  lofty  attitude  and 
the  inalienable  purpose  of  the  North.  In  this  there  is  no  abo 
litionism  to  justify  the  incessant  denunciations  that  have  been 
heard.  Gentlemen  seem  to  deceive  themselves  by  neglecting 
a  distinction  too  obvious  to  be  overlooked.  We  aim,  not  to 
abolish,  but  to  preserve.  Where  slavery  exists,  we  leave  it  un 
touched  ;  where  freedom  prevails,  we  demand  that  you  shall 
not  abolish  it.  While  gentlemen  denounce  the  abolition  of 
slavery  as  treasonable  and  criminal,  I  hope  they  will  indulge  us 
if  we  protest  against  the  abolition  of  freedom  in  California,  New 
Mexico,  and  Chihuahua. 

"  Mr.  Hunt  here  expressed  his  surprise  at  the  remarkable  lan 
guage  of  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll). 
I  am  speaking  of  the  opposition  to  slavery  and  its  extension 
which  exists  in  the  Northern  states.  He  said  it  was  '  a  mere 


356  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

sentiment  held  by  men,  without  reason  and  without  argument ; 
nothing  but  a  sentiment,  and  not  a  very  wholesome  sentiment 
either.'  It  is  difficult  to  characterize  an  expression  like  this, 
coming  from  the  representative  of  a  free  state,  without  trans 
cending  the  limits  of  parliamentary  order.  l  A  sentiment !' 
Yes,  sir,  '  a  sentiment !'  It  is  a  sentiment  which  the  Almighty 
has  implanted  deeply  in  the  human  heart,  and  no  earthly  pow 
er  can  eradicate  it.  It  may  be  insulted,  and  overborne,  and 
trampled  in  the  earth,  but,  thank  God,  it  can  never  be  extin 
guished.  The  fires  of  martyrdom  have  been  kindled  often  to 
subdue  it,  but  in  vain ;  it  has  seemed  to  expire  on  many  a  bat 
tle  field,  but  only  to  revive  with  new  energy  and  beauty.  It 
is  the  spirit  of  liberty,  which  is  inherent  in  the  soul  of  man.  It 
is  the  sentiment  which  has  inspired  the  friends  of  freedom  in 
every  age.  Why,  sir,  it  was  i  a  sentiment'  which  impelled  the 
Pilgrims  to  encounter  the  perils  of  the  ocean,  and  the  privations 
of  a  life  in  the  wilderness,  to  establish  freedom  of  conscience,  and 
secure  civil  liberty  for  themselves  and  their  posterity.  The 
American  Revolution  was  the  offspring  of  a  sentiment ;  the 
right  of  man  to  self-government  is  a  sentiment.  Let  the  gen* 
tleman  sneer ;  it  is  a  sentiment  as  eternal  as  the  throne  of  Di 
vine  Justice  from  which  it  emanates.  It  may  never  warm  the 
heart  of  that  gentleman ;  he  may  speak  of  it  in  tones  of  levity 
and  ridicule ;  but,  fortunately,  a  general  truth  is  not  weakened 
by  individual  exceptions." 

At  an  early  day  in  the  present  session,  Mr.  Hunt  gave  notice 
of  his  intention  to  introduce  the  following  joint  resolution,  which, 
on  the  7th  of  January,  was  introduced  accordingly  by  him,  and 
was  passed  unanimously  (excepting  only  one  negative  voice) : 

"  Joint  Resolution  expressive  of  the  thanks  of  Congress  to 
Major-general  Winfield  Scott  and  the  troops  under  his  com 
mand,  for  their  distinguished  gallantry  and  good  conduct 
in  the  campaign  of  1847. 

"Resolved  unanimously  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  as 
sembled,  That  the  thanks  of  Congress  be,  and  they  are  hereby 
presented  to  Winfield  Scott,  major  general  commanding  in  chief 
the  army  in  Mexico,  and,  through  him,  to  the  officers  and  men 
of  the  regular  and  volunteer  corps  under  him,  for  their  uniform 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  357 

gallantry  and  good  conduct,  conspicuously  displayed  at  the 
siege  and  capture  of  the  city  of  Vera  Cruz  and  castle  of  San 
Juan  d'Ulloa,  March  29, 1847,  and  in  the  successive  battles  of 
Cerro  Gordo,  April  18th,  Contreras,  San  Antonio,  and  Churu- 
busco,  August  19th  and  20th,  and  for  the  victories  achieved  in 
front  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  September  8th,  llth,  12th,  and 
13th,  and  the  capture  of  the  metropolis,  September  14th,  1847, 
in  which  the  Mexican  troops,  greatly  superior  in  numbers,  and 
with  every  advantage  of  position,  were,  in  every  conflict,  sig 
nally  defeated  by  the  American  arms. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and 
he  is  hereby  requested  to  cause  to  be  struck  a  gold  medal,  with 
devices  emblematical  of  the  series  of  brilliant  victories  achieved 
by  the  army,  and  presented  to  Major-general  Winfield  Scott,  as 
a  testimony  of  the  high  sense  entertained  by  Congress  of  his 
valor,  skill,  and  judicious  conduct  in  the  memorable  campaign 
of  1847. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  re 
quested  to  cause  the  foregoing  resolutions  to  be  communicated 
to  Major-general  Scott  in  such  terms  as  he  may  deem  best  cal 
culated  to  give  effect  to  the  objects  thereof." 

The  several  propositions  introduced  into  Congress  for  the  re 
lief  of  the  Irish  people  under  their  recent  terrible  visitation,  have 
been  made  matter  of  some  controversy.  The  first  movement 
was  made  by  Mr.  Hunt.  On  the  10th  of  February,  1847,  in 
pursuance  of  notice  previously  given,  he  introduced,  by  leave 
of  the  House,  the  following  bill,  which  was  read  twice  by  its 
title,  and  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State 
of  the  Union : 

"  A  Bill  for  the  Relief  of  Ireland. 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the' United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be  authorized  and  directed  to 
expend  the  sum  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  pur 
chase  of  articles  of  subsistence  for  the  people  of  Ireland,  now 
suffering  from  famine,  and  in  paying  the  cost  of  transporting 
such  articles  to  proper  agents  in  Ireland,  for  gratuitous  distri 
bution  ;  and  that  said  sum  be  paid  out  of  any  money  in  the 
treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated." 


358  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

The  reference  of  the  bill,  under  the  one  hundred  and  thirtieth 
rule,  which  requires  that  "  all  proceedings  touching  appropri 
ations  of  money  shall  be  first  discussed  ih  a  committee  of  the 
whole  House,"  was  sooner  or  later  unavoidable.  It  is,  in  fact, 
little  better  than  a  burial  of  the  dead  to  give  to  any  measure 
that  direction,  unless  it  has  strong  claims  upon  the  favorable 
consideration  of  the  House.  It  is  worse,  if  possible,  than  plac 
ing  a  resolution  among  the  business  on  the  speaker's  table — 
which  Mr.  Adams  once  designated  as  the  "  Limbo  of  Vanity 
and  Paradise  of  Fools" — so  little  chance  is  there  of  any  thing 
that  goes  there  being  ever  heard  of  again.  At  a  subsequent 
period,  Mr.  Hunt  made  an  earnest  effort  to  bring  the  House  to 
its  consideration,  but  failed. 

On  the  26th  of  the  same  month,  Mr.  Crittenden,  in  the  Sen 
ate,  pursuant  to  previous  notice,  introduced  the  following  bill : 

"  A  Bill  to  provide  some  Relief  for  the  suffering  People  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland. 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby  au 
thorized  to  cause  to  be  purchased  such  provisions  as  he  may 
deem  suitable  and  proper,  and  to  cause  the  same  to  be  trans 
ported  and  tendered,  in  the  name  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States  to  that  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  relief  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Ireland  and  Scotland,  suffering  from  the  great  calamity 
of  scarcity  and  famine. 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  sum  of  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated,  out 
of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  to 
carry  into  effect  this  act. 

"And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  at  his  discretion,  to 
employ  any  of  the  public  ships  of  the  United  States  for  the 
transportation  of  the  provisions  to  be  purchased  as  aforesaid." 

The  phraseology  was  subsequently  modified  by  Mr.  Critten 
den,  on  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Webster,  so  as  to  make  the  act  a 
tender  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  the 
people  of  Ireland  and  Scotland,  and  not  of  one  government  to 
the  other. 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  359 

The  bill  was  met  by  some  objections  both  as  to  constitution 
ality  and  expediency,  but  was  read  a  first  and  second  time,  and 
was  eloquently  advocated  by  Mr.  Crittenden,  Mr.  Cass,  and  Mr. 
John  M.  Clayton.  On  the  following  day  it  was  passed,  Mr. 
Hannegan,  Mr.  Webster,  and  Mr.  Dayton  appealing  to  the 
Senate  in  its  behalf,  and  answering  objections  which  were  rais 
ed  by  Mr.  Butler,  Mr.  Westcott,  Mr.  Mason,  Mr.  Niles,  and  Mr. 
Bagby.  The  vote  stood  twenty-seven  in  the  affirmative  and 
thirteen  in  the  negative. 

On  the  1st  of  March  (the  intervening  day  having  been  Sun 
day),  the  bill  was  taken  up  in  the  House,  and  had  its  first  and 
second  reading  in  the  usual  way.  A  motion  was  made  by  Mr. 
George  W.  Jones,  of  Tennessee,  that  it  be  laid  upon  the  table, 
but  the  House  rejected  the  motion  by  a  vote  of  eighty-four 
against  seventy-four. 

The  Congressional  Globe  says : 

"  Mr.  Levin  moved  that  the  said  bill  be  referred  to  the  Com 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means,  with  the  following  instructions : 

"  *  Whereas  the  proposed  relief  for  Ireland  can  not  even  ap 
ply  an  emollient  to  the  evil,  and  is  designed  to  afford  food  for 
party  vultures  to  feed  upon  rather  than  bread  for  the  starving 
people  of  Ireland : 

"  '  And  whereas  the  people  of  the  United  States  themselves 
are  contributing  in  the  most  liberal  manner  to  afford  that  aid 
which  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  can  not  constitution 
ally  grant : 

"  '  And  whereas  there  are  thousands  of  American  poor  who 
are  excluded  from  the  benefit  of  American  alms-houses  and  poor- 
houses  because  of  the  influx  of  foreign  paupers  and  criminals 
who  now  fill  them  to  overflowing : 

" '  And  whereas  the  American  poor  have  claims  upon  the 
American  government  equal  to  those  in  a  foreign  land ;  there 
fore, 

"  *  Be  it  enacted,  That  the  like  sum  of  five  hundred  thou 
sand  dollars  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated,  out  of 
any  moneys  in  the  treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  for  the 
purchase  of  fuel  and  flour  for  the  benefit  of  such  American 
poor  as  may  be  found  in  a  state  of  distress ;  and  the  President 
of  the  United  States  is  hereby  directed  to  distribute  the  same 
in  such  manner  and  in  such  proportion  as  he  may  deem  expe 
dient.' 


360  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

"  The  speaker  decided  that  the  motion  to  refer,  with  these 
instructions,  was  not  in  order. 

"Mr.  Levin  appealed  from  this  decision,  and  the  question 
being  put,  '  Shall  the  decision  of  the  chair  stand  as  the  judg 
ment  of  the  House  ?'  it  was  decided  in  the  affirmative. 

"  Mr.  Carroll  moved  that  the  bill  be  referred  to  the  Commit 
tee  of  Ways  and  Means,  with  instructions  to  report  the  same 
forthwith. 

"..Mr.  Washington  Hunt*  moved  to  commit  the  bill  to  a  Com 
mittee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  make  it 
the  special  order  of  the  day  for  two  o'clock  this  day,  and  moved 
the  previous  question. 

"  The  speaker  ruled  the  motion  out  of  order. 

"  Several  points  of  order  and  inquiries  were  here  made,  after 
which 

"  The  speaker  said  he  had  decided  the  motion  of  Mr.  Hunt 
to  refer  the  bill  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of 
the  Union  out  of  order,  as  the  motion  to  refer  to  the  Committee 
of  Ways  and  Means  took  precedence.  This  was  an  erroneous 
decision ;  the  motion  to  commit  to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole 
on  the  State  of  the  Union  took  precedence  of  all  other  motions 
to  refer,  and  the  question  would,  accordingly,  be  first  put  on  Mr. 
Hunt's  motion. 

"  Mr.  Boyd  inquired  what  would  be  the  effect  of  the  previ 
ous  question,  if  seconded. 

"  The  speaker  said  it  would  bring  the  House  to  a  direct  vote 
on  committing  the  bill  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the 
State  of  the  Union. 

"  The  previous  question  was  seconded,  and  the  main  question 
ordered,  namely,  '  Shall  the  bill  be  committed  to  a  Committee 
of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union  ?' 

"  It  was  decided  in  the  negative,  yeas  69,  nays  107. 

"  The  question  recurred  on  referring  the  bill  to  the  Commit 
tee  of  Ways  and  Means,  the  previous  question  still  operating. 

"Mr.  Carroll  inquired  if  the  question  on  the  amendment  to 
the  motion  to  refer  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
namely,  *  with  instructions  to  report  the  bill  forthwith,'  was 
not  to  be  put. 

"  The  chair  stated  it  was  not,  as  Mr.  Carroll  had  withdrawn  it. 

*  This  motion  is  erroneously  assigned  on  the  journal  to  Mr.  Boyd,  of  Kentucky. 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  361 

"  Mr.  Carroll  said  he  had  only  withdrawn  it  that  the  motion 
to  refer  to  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union 
might  be  put. 

"  The  question  was  stated  on  agreeing  to  the  motion  to  refer 
the  bill  to  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  and,  being  put, 
it  was  decided  in  the  affirmative. 

"  So  the  said  bill  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means." 

On  the  following  day  Mr.  Carroll  moved  that  the  rules  be  sus 
pended,  to  enable  him  to  offer  a  resolution  instructing  the  Com 
mittee  of  Ways  and  Means  to  report  the  bill  back  to  the  House 
forthwith.  This  motion  was  ruled  out  of  order. 

The  next  day — the  last  of  the  session — Mr.  Winthrop  sub 
mitted  a  motion,  which  is  thus  recorded  in  the  "Congressional 
Globe :" 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  said  that,  having  in  vain  endeavored  to  get 
any  action  on  the  bill  in  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
he  would  move  a  suspension  of  the  rules  for  the  purpose  of  en 
abling  him  to  move  a  resolution  instructing  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  to  report  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  Ireland, 
which  motion  was  decided  in  the  negative,  yeas  57,  nays  102. 

"  Mr.  Carroll  inquired  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  (Mr. 
M'Kay)  whether  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  had  acted 
on  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  sufferers  in  Ireland  and  Scotland." 

No  answer  to  this  inquiry  is  recorded.  The  bill  never  again 
saw  the  light  of  day.  Nevertheless,  some  of  the  good  people  of 
the  Emerald  Isle,  with  a  facility  of  mistake  which  is  said  to 
be  characteristic,  seized  hold  of  the  idea  that  the  teeming  aid 
poured  forth  in  one  continuous  stream  from  the  generous  hearts 
of  our  people,  was  the  fruit  of  the  very  bill  thus  suddenly  de 
prived  of  vitality.  The  tokens  of  admiration  and  gratitude  with 
which  they  hailed  the  "Half  Million  Bill"  have  been  neither 
few  nor  cold. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  elected  President  of  the  Whig  State  Conven 
tion  of  New  York  which  assembled  at  Syracuse  in  October 
last,  to  nominate  officers  to  serve  under  the  new  State  Con 
stitution.  Having  been  conducted  to  the  chair  by  Messrs. 
Patterson  and  Crawford,  he  addressed  the  Convention  as  fol 
lows: 

"GENTLEMEN, — I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  distinguished 


362  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

honor  you  have  conferred  upon  me  by  electing  me  to  preside 
over  your  deliberations.  In  return  for  this  proof  of  your  confi 
dence,  I  must  ask  you  to  accept  my  sincere  and  grateful  ac 
knowledgments.  I  can  promise  no  more  than  an  honest  endeav 
or  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  chair,  relying  less  upon  my 
own  ability  than  upon  your  kind  indulgence  and  support. 

^"We  are  convened,  gentlemen,  on  an  occasion  of  striking 
novelty  and  interest.  The  people  are  about  to  exercise  a  great 
power  for  the  first  time,  and  whether  it  shall  be  exercised  wisely 
for  the  public  weal  must,  in  a  large  degree,  depend  on  the  re 
sult  of  your  action.  The  last  year  has  been  an  eventful  and 
memorable  period  in  the  political  history  of  our  state. 

"  This  great  commonwealth,  in  the  exercise  of  that  sovereign 
power  which  resides  in  the  body  of  the  people,  has  established 
for  itself  a  new  constitution  of  government.  The  evils  and 
abuses  which  experience  had  disclosed  in  our  former  system 
have  been  discarded  and  done  away ;  the  popular  basis  upon 
which  our  institutions  rest  has  been  made  broader  and  deeper, 
and  our  public  agents  have  been  reduced  to  a  more  direct  de 
pendence  upon  the  people.  These  great  changes  have  been 
produced  without  violence,  anarchy,  or  confusion,  but  by  the 
deliberate  action  of  the  public  will,  expressed  through  peaceful 
and  constitutional  modes.  Perhaps  no  spectacle  presents  a 
higher  degree  of  moral  grandeur  than  that  of  a  community  of 
freemen  framing  for  themselves  and  their  posterity  a  system  of 
government,  denning  by  a  written  code  the  limits  of  delegated 
authority,  and  protecting  by  fixed  barriers  the  landmarks  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty.  Nothing  can  afford  a  more  admira 
ble  illustration  of  the  character  of  our  institutions  and  the  en 
lightened  patriotism  of  our  people. 

"  There  is  no  feature  in  our  new  Constitution  which  created 
more  serious  apprehensions  in  intelligent  minds  than  the  plan 
of  an  elective  judiciary.  But  those  apprehensions,  so  honestly 
entertained  by  many,  seem  to  have  been  gradually  dispelled. 
It  is  believed  that  the  people  have  shown  themselves  competent 
to  the  safe  exercise  of  this  delicate  responsibility.  We  have 
seen  our  old  courts  displaced  by  new  tribunals  by  a  process  so 
easy  as  to  be  scarcely  perceptible,  without  the  slightest  shock 
to  established  interests,  leaving  all  our  rights  of  person  and 
property  in  full  and  undisturbed  security.  It  may  be  affirmed 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  363 

that  our  new  judiciary  possesses  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  community  in  as  full  a  degree  as  the  system  which  it  su 
perseded. 

"  It  now  remains  for  us  to  lend  our  aid  in  carrying  out  that 
other  prominent  feature  of  our  new  Constitution,  which  restores 
to  the  people  the  choice  of  that  large  class  of  administrative  offi 
cers  who  have  heretofore  been  appointed  through  the  intermedi 
ate  agency  of  the  executive  or  legislative  department.  In  this, 
as  in  most  human  affairs,  the  success  of  the  system  may  de 
pend  on  the  first  step.  Our  responsibility  is  much  enhanced  by 
the  moral  certainty  that  the  nominations  to  be  made  by  this 
Convention  will  receive  the  ratification  of  the  people.  Let  it 
be  our  aim  to  select '  new  men'  of  tried  capacity  and  fidelity- 
men  in  whose  hands  the  public  will  be  willing  to  intrust  the 
administration  of  the  important  provisions  of  our  new  Consti 
tution. 

"  The  duties  devolved  upon  us  relate  exclusively  to  state  in 
terests.  Yet,  in  the  present  condition  of  our  country,  it  is  im 
possible  for  Whigs,  assembled  together  as  we  are,  to  forget  the 
obligations  which  rest  upon  them  as  members  of  that  great  na 
tional  party  in  which  are  centered  all  our  hopes  for  the  peace, 
prosperity,  and  deliverance  of  the  nation.  In  the  unfortunate 
struggle  of  1844,  we  feared  the  most  serious  calamities  would 
result  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Whig  cause.  It  may  be  doubt 
ed,  however,  if  any  one  conceived  the  full  weight  and  extent 
of  the  evils  which  were  to  be  visited  upon  the  country.  At 
this  moment  our  country  is  pouring  out  the  blood  of  its  bravest 
sons  in  a  war  commenced  by  the  executive  without  the  sanc 
tion  of  Congress — a  war  for  conquest  and  slavery. 

"Our  government  has  established  a  financial  system  hostile 
to  the  business  interests,  and  a  commercial  system  fatal  to  many 
branches  of  the  industry  of  the  country,  inflicting  upon  the  peo 
ple  the  worst  burdens  of  misgovernment,  without  affording  that 
protection  and  support  which  was  the  first  object  of  our  glori 
ous  Constitution.  If  there  were  no  other  incentive,  a  sense  of 
these  evils,  which  press  so  heavily  upon  us,  should  be  sufficient 
to  arouse  the  Whig  party  to  new  vigor  and  more  efficient  ac 
tion.  More  than  this  :  we  find  a  higher  incentive  in  the  bright 
prospect  now  presented  for  the  triumphant  establishment  of 
Whig  principles  and  policy  in  our  national  councils. 


364  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  I  will  express  my  ardent  hope 
that  your  proceedings  may  be  characterized  by  a  spirit  of  union 
and  harmony,  and  that  your  deliberations  may  tend  to  elevate 
our  state  still  higher  in  its  proud  career  of  greatness,  and  civil 
ization,  and  of  true  glory." 

Mr.  Hunt  has  been  placed  by  the  present  speaker  of  the 
House  at  the  head  of  the  Committee  on  Commerce. 

In  our  observation  of  his  general  political  course,  we  have 
found  the  views  of  Mr.  Hunt  on  public  affairs  extremely  liberal, 
and  such  as  give  earnest  of  a  sincere  desire  to  promote  the  wel 
fare  of  his  country.  We  believe  this  to  be  his  reputation  in 
Congress.  The  navy,  the  army — and  especially  that  depart 
ment  of  the  latter  which  is  embraced  in  the  West  Point  Acad 
emy—are  indebted  to  his  patriotism  and  his  friendship  for  good 
service  in  their  behalf.  In  his  language  or  deportment  he  is 
never  violent  or  personal.  He  is  incapable  of  retaining  a  re 
sentment,  and  too  honorable  a  man  not  to  do  justice  to  the  con 
duct  and  motives  of  others.  His  bearing  toward  friends  and 
opponents  is  that  of  a  highly  courteous  gentleman.  His  char 
acteristic  amenity  is  never  lost  sight  of,  even  under  the  im 
pulses  and  excitements  incident  to  political  or  controversial 
debate.  He  has  little  need,  therefore,  of  resort  to  "  personal 
explanations,"  that  the  sober  second  thought  of  the  morning 
may  correct  the  unmeasured  license  of  the  previous  evening. 
Indeed,  we  think  something  is  due  to  him  for  material  service 
rendered  in  casting  ridicule  on  public  displays  of  this  descrip 
tion,  and  thus  conducing  to  their  abolishment.  When  a  new 
and  vast  field  of  patronage,  growing  out  of  the  "  supplies"  of 
men  and  money  voted  for  the  Mexican  war,  was  laid  open  to 
the  executive,  rumor  was  more  than  once  rife  with  the  names 
of  representatives  said  to  be  disappointed  aspirants  for  his  favor 
and  countenance : 

"  Fama  malum  quo  mine  non  est  velocius  ullum." 

Personal  explanations  became  more  especially  an  order  of  the 
day ;  and  Mr.  Hunt,  never  having  enjoyed  a  felicity  of  the  kind, 
asked  leave  to  make  one.  It  was  this : 

. 

"  When  members  strike  for  higher  wages, 

And  claim  more  pay  and  rations, 

They  damn  themselves  for  future  ages 

Beyond  all  personal  explanations" 


WASHINGTON   HUNT.  365 

The  House  received  the  rhythm  in  good  temper,  nothing  dis 
concerted  by  the  pains  and  penalties  it  provided. 

In  private  life,  no  man  has  warmer  or  more  devoted  friends. 
Their  attachments  are  founded  on  a  knowledge  of  the  manly 
attributes  of  his  character,  his  integrity,  and  the  uniform  exhi 
bitions  of  a  kindly  temper  and  a  generous  heart.  Those  who 
know  him  best,  esteem  him  most. 


SIMS,  ALEXANDER   DROMGOOLE. 

JL  HIS  gentleman  represents  the  fourth  Congressional  District 
of  South  Carolina,  commonly  known  as  the  Darlington  District, 
which  comprises  the  judicial  districts  of  Chesterfield,  Marlbor- 
ough,  Darlington,  Marion,  Horry,  Georgetown,  and  Williams- 
burg.  He  was  born  on  the  12th  of  June,  1803,  in  the  county 
of  Brunswick,  Virginia.  His  father,  Doctor  Richard  Sims,  was 
a  native  of  Granville  county,  North  Carolina,  though  descended 
from  a  family  which  settled  more  than  a  century  ago  in  Hano 
ver  county,  Virginia.  His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Rebecca  Dromgoole,  daughter  of  the  late  Reverend  Edward 
Dromgoole,  and  eldest  sister  of  the  late  representative  in  Con 
gress,  George  C.  Dromgoole,  was  a  native  of  Brunswick  county, 
Virginia.  Her  father  came  from  Ireland;  her  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Walton,  descended  from  George  Walton  and 
Rebecca  Roe,  who  settled  at  or  near  Williamsburg,  Virginia, 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 

Mr.  Sims  has  four  sisters  and  one  brother  living.  A  younger 
brother,  the  Reverend  Edward  D.  Sims,  an  accomplished  scholar 
and  divine,  and  at  the  time  of  his  decease  Professor  of  English 
Literature  in  the  University  of  Alabama,  died  in  the  spring  of 
1845. 

Though  the  parents  of  Mr.  Sims  were  in  moderate  circum 
stances,  they  were  enabled,  by  economy  and  prudence,  to  afford 
him  every  opportunity  for  a  thorough  education.  After  the  nec 
essary  preparation,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  joined  the  fresh 
man  class  in  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  at  Chapel  Hill, 
where  he  continued  the  assiduous  prosecution  of  his  studies 
until  near  the  close  of  the  first  session  in  his  junior  year,  stand 
ing  among  the  first  in  his  class.  At  this  time  he  left  the  Uni 
versity  and  entered  Union  College,  New  York — attracted  there, 
perhaps,  as  much  by  the  high  character  of  Doctor  Nott  as  any 
other  consideration — where  he  took  his  first  degree  at  Com- 
366 


aifdS 


ALEXANDER   DROMGOOLE   SIMS.  367 

mencement  in  1823.  No  honors  were  conferred  at  the  close 
of  the  respective  sessions  upon  individuals  in  the  classes  at 
Union  College — as  was  the  custom  at  the  University  of  North 
Carolina — so  as  to  mark  distinctly  the  relative  merit  of  the  va 
rious  members  of  the  classes ;  but  in  the  reports  made  by  the 
faculty  for  the  information  of  parents  and  guardians,  Mr.  Sims 
invariably  received  high  commendation. 

After  the  close  of  his  collegiate  course,  he  read  law  with  Gen 
eral  Dromgoole,  in  Brunswick  county,  Virginia,  and  was  ad 
mitted  to  practice.  For  a  year  or  two  he  attended  the  courts 
of  Brunswick,  Mecklenburg,  and  Greensville  ;  but,  finding  his 
business  inadequate  to  his  necessities,  and  the  bar  in  that  part 
of  Virginia  crowded  with  able  and  experienced  practitioners,  he 
removed,  in  the  year  1826,  to  South  Carolina,  and  settled  at 
Darlington  Court-house.  In  the  year  following  he  took  charge 
of  the  academy  at  that  place,  and  continued  to  teach  for  several 
years.  The  school,  under  his  management,  was  large  and  pros 
perous,  and  its  patrons  expressed  much  gratification  with  the 
conduct  and  the  progress  of  the  pupils.  He  was  thought  to  pos 
sess  great  aptitude  for  imparting  instruction,  as  well  as  emi 
nent  skill  in  school  discipline. 

He  took  advantage  of  this  period  of  his  life  to  extend  his  sci 
entific  and  literary  knowledge,  and  to  make  a  thorough  and 
complete  review  of  his  entire  collegiate  course ;  but  he  also  con 
tinued  his  study  of  the  law,  and  in  December,  1829,  was  ad 
mitted  to  practice  in  the  courts  of  South  Carolina.  In  1830 
he  commenced  his  professional  career,  and  soon  met  with  very 
reasonable  encouragement.  His  business  continued  to  improve, 
and  both  in  the  Circuit  and  in  the  Court  of  Appeals,  the  dock 
ets  attest  his  success.  He  was  soon  enabled  to  meet,  from  the 
profits  of  his  profession,  not  only  his  current  expenses,  but  also 
to  discharge  his  debts  in  Virginia,  which,  at  the  time  of  his  re 
moval,  he  was  unable  to  pay,  and  to  lay  up  a  competency  for 
himself  and  family.  At  the  time  of  entering  into  public  life,  he 
was  among  the  leading  lawyers  on  his  circuit,  and  in  full  prac 
tice.  In  every  branch  of  his  profession,  as  advocate,  solicitor, 
or  attorney,  he  had  his  full  share  of  business. 

He  is  represented  from  early  youth  to  have  been  fond  of  pol 
itics,  and  to  have  devoted  himself  much  to  that  kind  of  reading 
and  study  adapted  to  the  duties  of  a  statesman.  The  necessity 


368  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

which  compelled  him  to  attend  to  his  private  means,  prevented 
him  from  entering  very  early  into  public  life ;  but  he  was  al 
ways  a  firm  and  decided  politician,  with  fixed  principles  and  a 
ready  opinion.  During  the  period  of  the  Nullification  strifes  in 
South  Carolina,  he  was  active  and  decided,  though  not  a  can 
didate  for  any  office.  When  General  Jackson's  "  proclama 
tion"  reached  the  village  of  Darlington,  Mr.  Sims  was  at  the 
post-office.  He  read  it  publicly  to  the  assembled  multitude, 
and,  before  he  had  completed  the  reading,  he,  together  with 
thirty  or  forty  others,  had  enrolled  their  names  as  volunteers, 
to  be  at  the  service  of  Governor  Hayne  at  any  moment,  to  as 
sist  in  defending  the  state  against  "  Federal  aggression,  and  the 
threatened  heresies  of  the  President's  proclamation."  On  the 
same  evening  he  drafted  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously 
adopted  by  a  large  public  meeting,  readily  assembled  under  the 
existing  circumstances  of  the  times.  These  are  believed  to 
have  been  the  first  resolutions  in  condemnation  of  that  state 
paper  which  were  ever  adopted  in  the  country.  They  are  as 
follows : 

"  Whereas  we  believe  the  government  of  the  United  States 
is  limited  in  its  powers  by  the  Constitution,  and  that  the  sub 
stitution  of  Federal  discretion  in  the  place  of  such  constitutional 
limitations  is  subversive  of  all  the  reserved  rights  of  the  states : 
"  And  whereas  we  believe  the  Federal  Union  was  intended 
to  link  the  states  together  in  the  bonds  of  peace  and  amity,  by 
fraternal  feelings  and  congenial  sympathies,  and  not  by  force  : 
"  And  whereas  we  believe  that  in  no  emergency  can  the  gen 
eral  government  employ  force  to  control  or  subdue  the  regular 
ly  constituted  government  of  the  states,  but  that  the  employ 
ment  of  the  military  for  such  purposes  would  be  in  open  con 
flict  with  the  character  and  genius  of  our  institutions,  destruct 
ive  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  inevitably  subversive  of  the 
union  of  these  states.  Above  all,  because  we  believe  the  states 
are  sovereign,  and  not  corporations,  or  counties,  in  a  vast  con 
solidated  empire,  and,  as  such,  not  rightfully  subject  to  be  driven 
from  their  course  by  the  simple  edict  of  a  tyrant,  drunk  with 
power  and  unmerited  popularity,  much  less  to  be  crushed  in 
the  exercise  of  their  legitimate  rights  by  the  unholy  power  of 
a  flattered  usurper  or  imbecile  despot.  Therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  we  have  received  with  mingled  feelings  of 


ALEXANDER    DROMGOOLE    SIMS.  369 

regret,  aohorrence,  and  detestation,  the  proclamation  of  the 
President  of  the  United  States  touching  the  ordinance  of  the 
people  of  South  Carolina,  published  in  convention  on  the  24th 
day  of  November,  1832. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  consider  the  views  of  the  chief  magis 
trate  of  the  United  States,  as  expressed  in  the  aforesaid  procla 
mation,  as  characterized  by  every  mark  that  can  define  a  tyrant. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  intention  expressed  in  the  same  to  re 
sort  to  force  for  the  purpose  of  coercing  the  obedience  of  South 
Carolina,  evinces  a  recklessness  of  the  restraints  imposed  by 
the  Constitution,  and  a  disregard  of  the  peace,  harmony,  and 
safety  of  the  Union. 

"Resolved,  That  we  believe  that  the  first  drop  of  blood  shed 
in  this  controversy  will  render  reconciliation  of  the  unhappy 
differences  which  exist  between  this  government  and  that  of 
the  United  States  forever  impracticable. 

"  Resolved,  That,  living  in  an  age  and  a  country  where  con 
troversies  in  regard  to  the  powers  of  government  are  settled  by 
the  arbitrament  of  an  enlightened  public  opinion  and  a  spirit 
of  mutual  concession,  not  by  brute  force  and  lawless  violence, 
we  have  confidence  in  the  good  sense  and  love  of  liberty,  at  all 
times,  upon  great  occasions,  manifested  by  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  that  they  will  repudiate  and  put  down  the  un 
constitutional  and  tyrannical  doctrines  promulgated  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  President. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  still  approve  of  the  high  and  magnani 
mous  course  of  South  Carolina,  and  of  her  talented  and  patri 
otic  sons  who  are  guiding  her  destinies." 

It  was  not,  however,  until  the  year  1840  that  Mr.  Sims  en 
tered  public  life.  In  that  year,  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  he 
was  returned  a  member  to  the  General  Assembly  for  Darling 
ton,  in  which  service  he  remained  until  elected  to  Congress  in 
the  fall  of  1844.  While  in  the  Legislature  he  was  an  active 
and  useful  member,  never  absent  from  his  committees,  and 
ready  at  all  times  to  take  part  in  the  public  discussions  of  the 
House.  He  served  on  various  important  committees,  and  was 
the  author  of  several  useful  measures  which  were  adopted  by 
the  Legislature.  Others,  also,  he  introduced,  which  he  regard 
ed  as  highly  important  to  the  interests  of  the  state,  but  which 
were  not  adopted.  One  measure,  in  particular,  he  urged  more 

VOL.  I.— A  A 


370  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

than  once  on  the  consideration  of  the  House,  and  which  he  con 
sidered  of  great  importance.  In  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
lands  are  subject  to  levy,  and  sale,  and  execution,  exactly  as 
personal  chattels.  In  a  bill,  the  details  of  which  he  had  taken 
great  pains  to  mature,  Mr.  Sims  proposed  to  exempt  a  part  of 
the  landed  estate  of  every  citizen  with  a  family  from  sale  un 
der  execution,  so  as  to  leave  a  homestead  and  small  farm  for 
the  family.  By  this  measure,  he  proposed  not  only  to  find  a 
shelter  for  the  women  and  children  against  the  contingencies 
and  misfortunes  of  life,  but  also  to  counteract  the  effect  of  the 
pre-emption  system  of  the  general  government,  and  the  low 
price  of  the  public  lands,  in  drawing  off  the  population  of  the 
state.  He  urged  the  measure  both  by  an  able  report  and 
speeches,  and  though  it  failed,  yet  he  made  many  proselytes  to 
it.  Governor  Hammond,  in  his  annual  message  to  the  Legis 
lature  of  1844,  recommended  the  adoption  of  that,  or  some  sim 
ilar  system. 

Mr.  Sims  took  his  seat  in  the  national  Legislature  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress.  Perhaps  at  no  period  of  our 
history  have  our  foreign  relations  been  more  complicated,  or 
has  a  deeper  anxiety  been  manifested  in  the  public  mind  as  to 
the  course  of  policy  which  might  be  adopted,  than  at  the  first 
session  of  that  Congress.  We  trust  we  shall  have  done  some 
thing,  before  the  close  of  our  labors,  to  give  a  concise  view  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  times  as  then  existing,  and  to  place  in  an 
intelligible  form  before  the  country  the  results  of  the  delibera 
tions  of  its  representatives.  In  the  discussion  of  all  the  impor 
tant  topics  of  the  day,  as  well  as  of  other  matters  of  a  less 
prominent  character,  Mr.  Sims  took  an  active  part.  In  politics 
he  is  a  Democrat,  and  he  claims  never  to  have  changed  or 
wavered  in  his  faith. 

When  the  bill  to  provide  for  the  establishment  of  the  Smith 
sonian  Institution  for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge 
among  men  was  under  consideration  in  the  House,  he  opposed 
it,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  money  ought  to  be  re 
stored  to  the  British  Chancery.  Much  had  been  said  in  praise 
of  the  munificent  and  splendid  liberality  of  James  Smithson. 
It  had  been  said  that,  animated  by  a  spirit  of  benevolence  to 
his  race,  he  had  made  his  will,  constituting  the  government 
of  the  United  States  his  trustee  to  carry  out  his  intentions, 


ALEXANDER   DROMGOOLE    SIMS.  371 

and  that  he  had  dedicated  to  the  noble  purpose  of  the  increase 
and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men  an  entire  estate  un 
der  its  management.  Disclaiming  any  intention  to  speak  in 
terms  of  reproach  of  one  who  slept  under  the  sod,  Mr.  Sims 
could  only  see  in  the  will  of  Mr.  Smithson  what  he  had  seen 
in  the  wills  of  many  other  men.  After  having  griped,  through 
their  lives,  every  shilling  that  came  into  their  hands,  animated 
at  last  by  some  posthumous  vanity,  they  sought  to  build  up  a 
name  which  should  live  after  them ;  and  such,  rather  than  any 
feeling  for  humanity,  so  much  lauded,  was  the  motive  that 
guided  them.  In  the  present  case,  he  saw  abundant  evidence 
of  this  disposition  in  the  appointment  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States  as  a  trustee  to  carry  out  this  splendid  vanity. 
He  thought  that  our  government  was  not  instituted  for  any 
such  purpose  as  the  administration  of  charities.  He  believed 
there  was  no  grant  of  power  in  the  Constitution  admitting  such 
an  exercise.  And  as  there  was  no  such  power,  as  this  fund 
was  still  under  our  control,  and  as  the  trust  had  not  been  exe 
cuted,  he  thought  it  became  Congress  to  retrace  the  errors  it 
had  already  committed.  The  fund  might  then  be  restored  to 
England,  and  devoted  there  to  purposes  similar  to  those  which 
had  been  contemplated  in  the  City  of  Washington.  The  only 
difference  would  be  in  its  locality. 

Perhaps  a  brief  notice  of  this  eccentric  gentleman  may  be 
acceptable  to  many  of  our  readers. 

"  Smithson,"  says  Professor  Henry,  "  was  born  in  England 
in  the  year  1768.  He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Ox 
ford,  was  a  man  of  amiable  disposition,  and  devoted  to  science. 
He  was  the  best  chemist  in  Oxford,  and,  after  his  graduation, 
became  the  rival  of  Wollaston  in  minute  analysis,  and  possess 
ed  most  extraordinary  skill  in  manipulation.  The  following 
anecdote  to  the  point  was  related  on  the  authority  of  the  late 
President  of  the  Royal  Society : 

"  On  one  occasion  he  observed  a  tear  trickling  down  the  face 
of  a  lady.  He  caught  it  on  a  piece  of  glass,  lost  one  half,  ana 
lyzed  the  other  half,  and  discovered  a  microscopic  salt.  He  re 
sided  most  of  the  time  abroad,  and  was  an  illegitimate  son  of 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  recognized  him,  and  left 
him  a  handsome  property.  He  was  the  author  of  upward  of 
twenty  original  memoirs  on  various  subjects  of  science.  He 


372  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

appears  to  have  been  proud  of  his  scientific  attainments,  and 
on  one  occasion  wrote  thus :  '  The  best  blood  of  England  flows 
in  rny  veins :  on  my  father's  side  I  am  a  Northumberland ;  on 
my  mother's,  I  am  related  to  kings.  But  this  is  of  no  conse 
quence.  My  name  shall  live  in  the  memory  of  mankind  when 
the  titles  of  the  Northumberlands  and  Percys  are  forgotten.' 

"  Smithson  died  at  Genoa  in  the  year  1829,  leaving  his  prop 
erty  to  his  nephew,  the  son  of  his  brother,  with  a  clause  in  his 
will  leaving  it  in  trust  of  the  United  States,  for  founding  an 
institution  for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among 
men,  in  case  the  nephew  died  without  issue.  He  did  so  die, 
and  the  money,  about  $500,000,  came  into  possession  of  our 
government." 

Mr.  Sims  has  voted  against  appropriations  for  harbors  and 
rivers,  because  he  denies  the  existence  of  any  constitutional 
power  which  authorizes  them. 

He  voted  against  the  notice  for  the  termination  of  the  joint 
occupancy  of  the  Oregon  Territory — not  that  he  thought  it  in 
expedient  or  improper  that  the  notice  should  be  given ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  believed  the  interest  arvd  honor  of  the  country,  the 
preservation  of  its  peace,  and  the  preservation  of  the  territory 
itself,  alike  demanded  such  a  measure.  But  it  was  a  matter, 
in  his  opinion,  belonging  clearly  to  the  treaty-making  power, 
and  not  to  the  Legislature.  Still,  he  thought  that  the  House 
might,  as  an  advisory  act,  say  to  the  executive,  "  If  you  so  con 
duct  the  important  matters  committed  to  you  as  to  continue 
this  convention,  it  will  or  will  not  be  wise  and  prudent ;  and 
if  you  abrogate  it,  it  will  or  will  not  be  acceptable,  in  our  opin 
ion,  to  those  whom  we  represent." 

As  to  our  claim  to  the  territory,  he  contended  that  if  the 
question  had  been  a  new  one — what  lawyers  denominated  res 
Integra — we  would  have  had  the  best  title  up  to  fifty-four  de 
grees  forty  minutes.  But  it  was  not  res  Integra  ;  it  was,  in 
some  respects,  res  adjudicata  ;  and  though  there  might  be  no 
tribunal  to  enforce  decisions  on  nations,  yet  a  decent  respect 
to  the  opinion  of  mankind  required  fairness  and  justice  in  their 
practice  and  intercourse.  England  had  enjoyed  in  that  terri 
tory  equal  privileges  with  ourselves,  and  we  had,  in  some  sort, 
recognized  the  existence  of  her  rights  by  solemn  treaty.  On 
repeated  occasions  we  had  offered  to  divide  the  territory  on  the 


ALEXANDER   DROMGOOLE    SIMS.  373 

forty-ninth  degree  of  latitude ;  south  of  that  line,  he  believed, 
the  people  whom  he  represented  would  never  consent  to  surren 
der  one  foot ;  but,  in  reference  to  all  that  had  been  done,  he 
thought  that  a  fair  line  of  compromise,  and  if  that  line  should 
be  offered  by  Great  Britain,  he  thought  the  President  would  be 
bound  to  accept  it. 

He  believes  the  Mexican  war  to  be  just  and  necessary,  and 
he  is  in  favor  of  its  prosecution  until  such  time  as  indemnity 
for  injuries  sustained  and  for  the  expenses  of  the  war  shall  have 
been  made,  and  until  our  boundary  to  the  Rio  Grande  and  a 
suitable  line  from  thence  to  the  Pacific  shall  have  been  acknowl 
edged.  He  thinks  that  the  executive  government  of  the  United 
States  had  a  constitutional  right  to  do — and  was,  in  fact,  bound, 
under  the  high  obligations  of  duty,  to  do — every  thing  which  it 
has  done.  He  has  co-operated  heartily  with  the  administration 
in  all  measures  touching  the  war,  not  excluding  the  proposition 
for  the  appointment  of  a  lieutenant-general.  He  regretted  that 
Congress  did  not  think  proper  to  respond  to  the  recommenda 
tion  of  the  President  in  this  respect.  But  he  thinks  that,  in 
point  of  fact,  the  President  is  already  invested  with  the  direct 
authority  to  make  such  appointment,  under  the  sixty-second  ar 
ticle  of  war,  which  declares  that  "  if,  upon  marches,  guards,  or 
in  quarters,  different  corps  of  the  army  shall  happen  to  join,  or  do 
duty  together,  the  officer  highest  in  rank  of  the  line  of  the  army, 
marine  corps,  or  militia,  by  commission  there,  on  duty,  or  in 
quarters,  shall  command  the  whole,  and  give  orders  for  what  is 
needful  to  the  service,  unless  otherwise  especially  directed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  case." 

The  opinions  of  Mr.  Sims  on  the  subject  of  slavery  are  of  the 
ultra  Southern  school.  He  thinks  that  no  man  who  reads  the 
Bible,  and  who  is  a  Christian  either  in  theory  or  in  practice, 
can  denounce  slavery  as  immoral ;  and  he  believes  that  every 
foot  of  territory  which  we  may  permanently  occupy  south  of 
thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes  will  be  slave  territory.  When 
this  opinion  was  expressed  by  him  in  the  House,  the  following 
colloquy  took  place  : 

"  Mr.  Burt,  of  South  Carolina,  desired  to  ask  his  colleague 
whether  he  had  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  country  con 
quered  from  Mexico  south  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes 


374  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

would  be  occupied  with  the  slave  institutions,  in  consequence 
of  the  state  of  public  opinion  in  the  Northern,  Western,  and 
Middle  States,  or  whether  it  was  in  consequence  of  the  known 
determination  of  the  Southern  people  that  their  institutions 
shall  be  carried  into  that  country,  if  it  be  acquired. 

"  Mr.  Sims.  '  It  is  founded  on  the  known  determination  of 
the  Southern  people  that  their  institutions  shall  be  carried  there ; 
it  is  founded  on  the  laws  of  God,  written  on  the  climate  and 
soil  of  the  country ;  nothing  but  slave  labor  can  cultivate  prof 
itably  that  region  of  country.  I  have  no  idea  that  the  North 
or  the  West  will  resist  to  the  death.  The  Union  will  never  be 
dissolved  on  that  question.'  vj »;:.-: 

"  Mr.  Bradford  R.  Wood,  of  New  York,  here  interposed,  and 
protested  against  the  gentleman  answering  either  for  the  North 
or  for  God. 

"  Mr.  Sims.  '  I  answer  for  God,  because  His  opinion  is  writ 
ten  in  His  revealed  Word.  I  can  speak  authoritatively  on  that 
point.  I  do  not  believe  that,  on  the  slave  question  or  any  other 
question,  the  child  is  born  in  this  country  who  shall  witness  a 
dissolution  of  this  Union.  I  have  no  idea  of  the  thing.  Poli 
ticians  may  arise  and  flourish,  and  they  will  perish  beneath  the 
scorn  and  contempt  of  the  large  masses  of  the  honest  and  well- 
thinking  people  in  every  portion  of  this  Union,  who  shall  at 
tempt  to  subvert  the  institutions  and  government  of  their  coun 
try.  I  repeat,  that  the  child  is  not  born  who  shall  witness  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union  on  any  question  that  has  been  sug 
gested.'  " 

Among  the  more  local  matters  to  which  he  has  directed  his 
attention,  we  note  propositions  introduced  by  him  to  erect  a 
light-house  on  South  Island,  on  the  southern  edge  of  Winyaw 
Entrance ;  and  one  at  Blythe's,  or  Waite's  Point,  at  the  conflu 
ence  of  Sawpit  with  Winyaw  Bay,  South  Carolina ;  also  for 
surveys  to  be  made  of  the  bar  at  Winyaw  Entrance,  and  of  the 
waters  of  Winyaw  Bay ;  and  a  proposition  to  place  buoys  in 
Winyate  Channel,  leading  to  the  port  of  Georgetown,  South 
Carolina. 

He  avows  great  confidence  in  the  people,  and  is  said  to  en 
joy  great  popularity  in  his  own  district.  He  knows  that  he 
is  sometimes  called  a  demagogue ;  but  the  respect  he  shows 
to  the  people  he  declares  to  be  rather  the  result  of  his  political 


ALEXANDER   DROMGOOLE    SIMS.  375 

opinions,  and  of  his  sense  of  the  duty  which  a  public  servant 
owes  to  his  constituents,  than  of  those  notions  which  ordinarily 
influence  the  conduct  of  the  demagogue.  Though  eminently 
successful  in  his  career,  he  nevertheless,  as  we  have  shown,  had 
his  difficulties  to  surmount,  in  rising  from  obscurity  to  public 
distinction,  in  a  community  where  he  had  neither  the  advanta 
ges  of  wealth,  nor  relations  or  family  connections  to  sustain  him. 
But  his  industry  and  equable  temper  overcame  all  these  diffi 
culties.  Many  anecdotes  are  told  of  his  pleasantry  and  good- 
humor  in  the  conduct  of  his  popular  canvasses. 

He  published,  in  1833,  a  pamphlet  on  Slavery,  being  a  vindi 
cation  of  the  morality  of  the  institution.  It  is  considered  a  well- 
written  and  strong  defense  of  the  system.  In  1842  he  pub 
lished  a  popular  novel,  called  "  Bevil  Faulcon,"  in  one  volume, 
the  incidents  of  which  were  taken  from  the  period  of  the  Rev 
olution.  He  has  occasionally  been  in  the  habit,  since  he  first 
settled  at  Darlington,  of  furnishing  political  essays  to  the  pub 
lic  journals.  Among  his  most  admired  literary  productions  is 
the  oration  delivered  by  him  in  Marlborough  District,  South 
Carolina,  on  the  death  of  the  late  John  Campbell. 

Mr.  Sims  was  married  in  the  fall  of  1830  to  Margaret  Dar- 
gan,  daughter  of  Timothy  Dargan,  of  Darlington,  many  years 
a  member  of  the  State  Legislature.  She  died  in  1844,  leaving 
him  with  one  child. 

During  his  service  in  Congress  he  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  ;  and  it  is  known  to  us 
that,  during  the  last  Congress,  most  of  the  law  cases  which 
came  under  the  cognizance  of  that  committee  were  referred  to 
him  for  examination  and  report. 

He  opposed,  on  constitutional  grounds,  the  retrocession  of 
the  town  and  county  of  Alexandria  to  the  State  of  Virginia. 
He  believed  that  Congress  had  no  power,  after  once  having  ac 
cepted  a  cession  of  the  ten  miles'  square,  to  legislate  on  the 
subject,  either  of  retroceding  a  part  or  all,  or  accepting  another 
ten  miles'  square.  He  believed  the  power  expired  with  its  orig 
inal  exercise. 


WINTHROP,  ROBERT  CHARLES  (SPEAKER). 

X  HE  fame  of  Massachusetts — that  ancient  commonwealth, 
"  whose  soil  was  drenched  to  a  mire  by  the  first  and  best  blood 
of  the  Revolution" — has  suffered,  with  the  lapse  of  years,  no 
disparagement  in  the  character  of  those  whom  she  has  chosen 
to  represent  her  in  the  Congress  of  the  nation.  Look  upon  her, 
reader !  she  is  still  the  same.  Cast  your  eye  upon  the  white 
locks  and  the  bent  form  of  that  great  and  venerable  man,  to 
whom  his  younger  colleagues  look  up  with  filial  affection !  Be 
hold  in  him  the  honored  head  of  a  delegation  which,  through 
all  the  phases  of  party  change  and  political  commotion,  has 
presented  a  solid  column  of  enlightened  intelligence  and  manly 
patriotism !  Of  him  we  shall  speak  hereafter. 

Our  present  concern  is  with  the  representative  of  the  first 
Congressional  District  of  the  state,  Robert  C.  Winthrop.  Our 
own  observation  has  impressed  us  with  a  high  opinion  of  his 
character  and  attainments.  While  connected  more  immediate 
ly  with  the  politics  of  Massachusetts,  he  stood  pre-eminently 
high.  No  man  of  his  age  has  held  a  more  desirable  position 
at  home,  and  no  man  ever  more  completely  justified  the  con 
fidence  of  his  friends.  Independent  of  his  hereditary  claims 
to  the  respect  and  affection  of  his  own  commonwealth,  he  has 
wrought  out  for  himself,  by  his  fidelity  to  the  trust  reposed  in 
him,  and  by  his  steady  progress  in  every  qualification  for  the 
highest  statesmanship,  a  place  in  their  regard  second  to  none. 
To  sustain  this  declaration,  we  may  cite  the  fact  that  the  only 
occasion  upon  which  his  friends  have  ever  had  an  opportunity 
to  test  the  strength  of  his  hold  upon  the  popular  heart  was 
during  his  recent  canvass.  A  few  citizens  of  Boston,  some  of 
them  holding  prominent  social  positions,  and  having  no  slight 
pretension  to  intellectual  distinction,  attempted  to  supplant 
him  on  the  ground  of  his  vote  in  favor  of  the  Mexican  War  Bill. 
So  entirely,  however,  had  the  public  sentiment  toward  Mr. 
376 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WIN  THRO  p.      377 

Winthrop  been  misjudged  by  them,  that,  although  they  had 
that  which,  in  Massachusetts,  was  emphatically  the  popular 
side  of  the  question,  the  result  of  their  arraignment  against  him 
was  to  give  him  the  largest  majority  ever  cast,  we  believe,  by 
the  same  constituency  for  any  candidate  in  a  contested  elec 
tion.  George  T.  Curtis,  of  Boston,  referring  to  the  relation  in 
which  Mr.  Winthrop  stands  to  the  people  of  that  city,  says : 

"  A  Boston  boy,  nurtured  at  one  of  the  darling  public  insti 
tutions  of  this  town,  passing  thence  to  our  own  Harvard  Col 
lege,  where  his  career  was  distinguished  for  early  discretion  of 
character  as  well  as  for  eminent  talent,  and  coming  from  the 
University,  through  the  study  of  the  law,  almost  at  once  into 
public  life,  he  has  been  from  his  earliest  youth  an  object  of  the 
public  regard,  as  a  person  of  high  qualifications  for  the  public 
service.  In  his  talents,  his  cultivation,  his  correctness  of  prin 
ciple,  his  uniform  adherence  to  a  true  public  policy,  and  his 
capacity  to  judge  rightly  and  sneak  eloquently  upon  public  af 
fairs,  he  has  been  all  his  life  a  representative  of  the  people 
among  whom  he  was  born — of  their  institutions,  and  of  the 
spirit  of  their  whole  condition.  To  these  characteristics,  there 
have  been  added,  in  his  case,  the  associations  which  gather 
about  a  name  interwoven  forever  with  our  history  and  our  glo 
ry.  Nor  has  he  ever  disappointed  one  of  the  expectations  that 
have  fondly  centered  upon  him,  until,  in  this  middle  period  of 
his  life,  in  an  hour  of  that  misapprehension  or  misrepresenta 
tion  to  which  all  public  men  are  exposed,  he  has  had  charges 
laid  at  his  door  which  aim  at  his  integrity  of  purpose  and  con 
sistency  of  character." 

We  shall  refer  to  these  charges  in  another  page. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  memoir,  we  did  not  enjoy  the  ad 
vantage  of  personal  access  to  Mr.  Winthrop,  owing  to  his  ab 
sence  in  Europe,  and  we  have,  therefore,  been  compelled  to 
gather  scraps  and  fragments  for  our  history  as  chance  might 
throw  them  in  our  way.  We  find  that  he  was  born  in  the  city 
of  Boston,  on  the  12th  day  of  May,  1809.  He  is  the  direct  de 
scendant  of  John  Winthrop,  who  led  out  the  Massachusetts 
colony  in  1630,  and  who  was  its  first  governor.  Speaking  of 
some  of  the  scenes  through  which  that  infant  colony  passed, 
Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  says : 

"  At  the  court,  convened  for  the  purpose  of  appointing  officers 


378  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

who  would  emigrate,  John  Winthrop,  a  man  approved  for  piety, 
liberality,  and  wisdom,  was  chosen  governor,  and  the  whole 
board  of  assistants  selected  for  America.  Yet,  as  the  hour  of 
departure  drew  near,  the  consciousness  of  danger  spread  such 
terrors,  that  even  the  hearts  of  the  strong  began  to  fail.  One 
and  another  of  the  magistrates  declined.  It  became  necessary 
to  hold  a  court  at  Southampton  for  the  election  of  three  substi 
tutes  among  the  assistants,  and  of  these  three,  one  never  went. 
Even  after  they  had  embarked,  a  court  was  held  on  board  the 
Arabella,  and  Thomas  Dudley  was  chosen  deputy-governor  in 
the  place  of  Humphrey,  who  stayed  behind.  Dudley  emigrated, 
and  had  hardly  reached  America  before  he  repented  that  he 
had  come ;  the  country  had  been  described  in  too  favorable  col 
ors.  It  was  principally  the  calm  decision  of  Winthrop  which 
sustained  the  courage  of  his  companions. 

"  The  whole  number  of  ships  employed  during  the  season 
was  seventeen,  and  they  carried  over  not  far  from  fifteen  hund 
red  souls.  About  eight  hundred,  all  of  them  Puritans,  inclined 
to  the  party  of  the  Independents,  many  of  them  men  of  high 
endowments,  large  fortune,  and  the  best  education,  scholars 
well  versed  in  all  the  learning  of  the  times,  clergymen  who 
ranked  among  the  most  eloquent  and  pious  in  the  realm,  em 
barked  with  Winthrop  for  their  asylum,  bearing  with  them  the 
charter  which  was  to  be  the  basis  of  their  liberties.  Religion 
did  not  expel  the  feelings  of  nature  ;  before  leaving  Yarmouth, 
they  published  to  the  world  the  grounds  of  their  removal,  and 
bade  an  affectionate  farewell  to  the  Church  of  England  and  to 
the  land  of  their  nativity.  '  Our  hearts,'  say  they,  '  shall  be 
fountains  of  tears  for  your  everlasting  welfare  when  we  shall 
be  in  our  poor  cottages  in  the  wilderness.' 

"  The  emigrants  were  a  body  of  sincere  believers,  desiring 
purity  of  religion,  and  not  a  colony  of  philosophers,  bent  upon 
universal  toleration;  reverence  for  the  peculiarities  of  their 
faith  led  them  to  a  land  which  was  either  sterile,  or  overgrown 
with  unprofitable  vegetation.  They  emigrated  to  a  new  hem 
isphere,  where  distance  might  protect  them  from  imposition ; 
to  a  soil  of  which  they  had  purchased  the  exclusive  possession 
with  a  charter  of  which  they  had  acquired  the  entire  control, 
for  the  sake  of  reducing  to  practice  the  doctrines  of  religion  and 
the  forms  of  civil  liberty  which  they  cherished  more  than  life 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.       379 

itself.  They  constituted  a  corporation  to  which  they  themselves 
might  establish  at  their  pleasure  the  terms  of  admission.  They 
held  in  their  own  hands  the  key  to  their  asylum,  and  main 
tained  their  right  of  closing  its  doors  against  the  enemies  of  its 
harmony  and  its  safety. 

"  In  June  and  July,  the  ships  which  bore  Winthrop  and  his 
immediate  companions  arrived  to  a  scene  of  gloom;  such  of 
the  earlier  emigrants  as  had  survived  the  previous  winter  were 
poor  and  weak  from  sickness ;  their  corn  and  bread  were  hardly 
enough  for  a  fortnight's  supply.  Instead  of  offering  a  welcome, 
they  thronged  to  the  new  comers  to  be  fed.  Nearly  two  hund 
red  servants,  who  had  been  sent  over  at  a  great  expense,  re 
ceived  their  liberty,  free  from  all  engagements ;  their  labor,  such 
was  the  excessive  scarcity,  was  worth  less  than  the  cost  of  their 
maintenance. 

"  The  selection  of  places  for  the  new  plantations  became  the 
immediate  care.  The  bay  and  the  adjoining  rivers  were  exam 
ined  ;  if  Charlestown  was  the  place  of  the  first  sojourning,  it 
was  not  long  before  the  fires  of  civilization,  never  more  to  be 
quenched,  were  kindled  in  Boston  and  the  adjacent  villages. 
The  dispersion  of  the  company  was  esteemed  a  grievance ;  but 
no  time  was  left  for  long  deliberation,  and  those  who  had  health 
began  to  build.  Yet  sickness  delayed  the  progress  of  the  work, 
and  death  often  withdrew  the  laborer  from  the  fruit  of  his  ex 
ertions.  Every  hardship  was  encountered.  The  emigrants 
lodged  at  best  in  tents  of  cloth  and  in  miserable  hovels ;  they 
beheld  their  friends  weekly,  yea,  almost  daily,  drop  away  before 
their  eyes ;  in  a  country  abounding  in  secret  fountains,  they  per 
ished  for  the  want  of  good  water.  Many  of  them  had  been  ac 
customed  to  plenty  and  ease,  the  refinements  of  cultivated  life, 
and  the  conveniences  of  luxury.  Woman  was  there  to  struggle 
against  unforeseen  hardships,  unwonted  sorrows  ;  the  men,  who 
defied  trials  for  themselves,  were  miserable  at  beholding  those 
whom  they  cherished  dismayed  by  the  horrors  which  encom 
passed  them.  The  virtues  of  Arabella  Johnson,  a  daughter  of 
the  house  of  Lincoln,  could  not  break  through  the  gloomy  shad 
ow  that  surrounded  her ;  and  as  she  had  been  ill  before  her  ar 
rival,  grief  soon  hurried  her  to  the  grave.  Her  husband,  one 
of  the  first  men  in  the  colony,  zealous  for  pure  religion,  in  life 
<  the  greatest  furtherer  of  the  plantation,  and  by  his  bequests  a 


380  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

benefactor  of  the  infant  state,  was  subdued  by  the  force  of  dis 
ease  and  afflictions ;  but  he  died  willingly  and  in  sweet  peace, 
*  making  a  most  godly  end.'     Winthrop  lost  a  son,  though  not 
by  disease.     A  hundred  or  more,  some  of  them  of  the  board  of 
assistants,  men  who  had  enjoyed  high  consideration,  and  had 
been  revered  with  confidence  as  the  inseparable  companions  of 
the  common  misery  or  the  common  success,  disheartened  by 
the  scenes  of  woe,  and  dreading  famine  and  death,  deserted 
Massachusetts  and  sailed  for  England.     Before  December,  two 
hundred,  at  the  least,  had  died.     Yet,  as  the  brightest  light 
nings  are  kindled  in  the  darkest  clouds,  the  general  distress  did 
but  augment  the  piety  and  confirm  the  fortitude  of  the  colonists. 
Their  enthusiasm  was  softened  by  the  mildest  sympathy  with 
suffering  humanity,  while  a  sincere  religious  faith  kept  guard 
against  despondency  and  weakness.     Not  a  hurried  line,  not  a 
trace  of  repining,  appears  in  their  records ;  the  congregations 
always  assembled  at  the   stated  times,  whether  in  the  open 
fields  or  under  the  shade  of  an  ancient  tree ;  in  the  midst  of 
want,  they  abounded  in  hope  ;  in  the  solitudes  of  the  wilderness, 
they  believed  themselves  in  company  with  the  greatest,  the 
most  beneficent  of  Beings.     Honor  is  due  not  less  to  those  who 
perished  than  to  those  who  survived ;  to  the  martyrs,  the  hour 
of  death  was  an  hour  of  triumph,  such  as  is  never  witnessed  in 
more  tranquil  seasons,  just  as  there  can  be  no  gorgeous,  sun 
set  but  when  the  vapors  of  evening  gather  in  hoary  masses 
round  the  west  to  reflect  the  glories  of  declining  day.     For  that 
placid  resignation  which  diffuses  grace  round  the  bed  of  sickness, 
and  makes  death  too  serene  for  sorrow  and  too  beautiful  for  fear, 
no  one  was  more  remarkable  than  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
Sharp,  whose  youth  and  sex,  and,  as  it  seemed,  unequaled  vir 
tues,  won  the  warmest  eulogies  of  the  austere  Dudley.     Even 
children  caught  the  spirit  of  the  place  ;  and  in  their  last  hours, 
awoke  to  the  awful  mystery  of  the  impending  change,  awaited 
its  approach  in  the  tranquil  confidence  of  faith,  and  went  to  the 
grave  full  of  immortality.     The  survivors  bore  all  things  meek 
ly,  '  remembering  the  end  of  their  coming  hither.'     '  We  here 
enjoy  God  and  Jesus  Christ,'  wrote  Winthrop  to  his  wife,  whom 
pregnancy  had  detained  in  England,  '  and  is  not  this  enough  ? 
I  thank  God  I  like  so  well  to  be  here  as  I  do  not  repent  my 
coming.     I  would  not  have  altered  my  course  though  I  had 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      381 

foreseen  all  these  afflictions.  I  never  had  more  content  of 
mind.' " 

The  son  of  John  Winthrop  was  the  Governor  of  Connecti 
cut.  Of  him  the  same  writer  says : 

"  The  colonies  of  Plymouth,  of  Hartford,  and  New  Haven, 
not  less  than  of  Rhode  Island,  proclaimed  the  new  king,  and 
acted  in  his  name  ;  and  the  rising  republic  on  the  Connecti 
cut  [A.D.  1660]  appeared  in  London  by  its  representative,  the 
younger  Winthrop,  who  went,  as  it  were,  between  the  mangled 
limbs  of  his  father-in-law,  to  insure  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-ex 
iles  in  the  West.  They  had  purchased  their  lands  of  the  as 
signs  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  from  Uncas  they  had  bought 
the  territory  of  the  Mohegans,  and  the  news  of  the  Restoration 
awakened  a  desire  for  a  patent.  But  the  little  colony  proceed 
ed  warily  :  they  had  drafted  among  themselves  the  instrument 
which  they  desired  the  king  to  ratify ;  and  they  could  plead  for 
their  possessions  their  rights  by  purchase,  by  conquest  from  the 
Pequods,  and  by  their  own  labor,  which  had  redeemed  the  wil 
derness.  A  letter  was  also  addressed  from  Connecticut  to  the 
aged  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  the  early  friend  of  the  emigrants,  and 
now,  on  the  Restoration,  while  it  was  yet  the  royal  policy  to 
conciliate  the  Presbyterians,  a  favored  officer  of  the  crown.  By 
the  memory  of  past  benefits  and  the  promise  of  grateful  regard, 
they  request  his  influence  to  obtain  for  them  a  guarantee  for 
their  liberties. 

"  The  venerable  man,  too  aged  for  active  exertion,  secured 
for  his  clients  the  kind  offices  of  the  lord-chamberlain,  the  Earl 
of  Manchester,  a  man  *  of  an  obliging  temper,  universally  be 
loved,  being  of  a  virtuous  and  generous  mind.  Indeed,  he  was 
a  noble  and  a  worthy  lord,  and  one  that  loved  the  godly.  He 
and  Lord  Say  did  join  together,  that  their  godly  friends  in  New 
England  might  enjoy  their  just  rights  and  liberties.' 

"  But  the  chief  happiness  of  Connecticut  was  in  the  selection 
of  its  agent.  In  the  younger  Winthrop,  the  qualities  of  human 
excellence  were  mingled  in  such  happy  proportions,  that,  while 
he  always  wore  an  air  of  contentment,  no  enterprise  in  which 
he  engaged  seemed  too  lofty  for  his  powers.  Even  as  a  child 
he  had  been  the  pride  of  his  father^  house ;  he  had  received  the 
best  instruction  which  Cambridge  and  Dublin  could  afford,  and 
had  perfected  his  education  by  visiting,  in  part  at  least,  in  the 


382  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

public  service,  riot  Holland  and  France  only,  in  the  days  of 
Prince  Maurice  and  Richelieu,  but  Venice  and  Constantinople. 
From  boyhood  his  manners  had  been  spotless,  and  the  purity 
of  his  soul  added  luster  and  beauty  to  the  gifts  of  nature  and 
industry.  As  he  traveled  through  Europe,  he  sought  the  socie 
ty  of  men  eminent  for  learning.  Returning  to  England  in  the 
bloom  of  life,  with  every  promise  of  preferment  which  genius, 
gentleness  of  temper,  and  influence  at  court  could  inspire,  he 
preferred  to  follow  his  father  to  the  New  World,  regarding  '  di 
versities  of  countries  but  as  so  many  inns,'  alike  conducting  to 
'  the  journey's  end.'  When  his  father,  the  father  of  Massachu 
setts,  became  impoverished  by  his  expenses  in  planting  the  col 
ony,  the  pious  son,  unsolicited  and  without  recompense,  relin 
quished  his  large  inheritance  that  '  it  might  be  spent  in  further 
ing  the  great  work'  in  Massachusetts ;  himself,  single-handed 
and  without  wealth,  engaged  in  the  enterprise  of  planting  Con 
necticut.  Care  for  posterity  seemed  the  motive  to  his  actions. 
His  vast  and  elevated  mind  had,  moreover,  that  largeness,  that 
he  respected  learning,  and  virtue,  and  genius,  in  whatever  sect 
they  might  be  found.  No  narrow  bigotry  limited  his  affections 
or  his  esteem ;  and  when  Quakers  had  become  the  objects  of 
persecution,  he  was  earnest  and  unremitting  in  argument  and 
entreaty  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood.  Master  over  his 
own  mind,  he  never  regretted  the  brilliant  prospects  he  had  re 
signed,  nor  complained  of  the  comparative  solitude  of  New  Lon 
don  :  a  large  library  furnished  employment  to  his  mind ;  the 
study  of  nature,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  philosophy 
of  Bacon,  was  his  delight,  for  '  he  had  a  gift  in  understanding 
and  art,'  and  his  home  was  endeared  by  a  happy  marriage  and 
many  sweet  children.  His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was  as 
remarkable  as  his  virtues.  He  never  attempted  impracticable 
things ;  but,  understanding  the  springs  of  action  and  the  prin 
ciples  that  control  affairs,  he  calmly  and  noiselessly  succeeded 
in  all  that  he  undertook.  The  New  World  was  full  of  his 
praises ;  Puritans,  and  Quakers,  and  the  freemen  of  Rhode  Isl 
and  were  alike  his  eulogists ;  the  Dutch  at  New  York,  not  less 
than  all  New  England,  had  confidence  in  his  integrity ;  Clar 
endon  and  Milton,  Newton *and  Robert  Boyle,  became  his  cor 
respondents.  If  he  had  faults,  they  are  forgotten.  In  history, 
he  appears,  by  unanimous  testimony  from  early  life,  without  a 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.       383 

blemish,  and  it  is  the  beautiful  testimony  of  his  own  father 
that  *  God  gave  him  favor  in  the  eyes  of  all  with  whom  he  had 
to  do/  In  his  interview  with  Charles  the  Second,  there  is  rea 
son  to  believe,  he  was  able  to  inspire  that  naturally  benevolent 
monarch  with  curiosity  ;  perhaps  he  amused  him  with  accounts 
of  Indian  warfare,  and  descriptions  of  the  marvels  of  a  virgin 
world.  A  favorable  recollection  of  Charles  the  First,  who  had 
been  a  friend  to  his  father's  father,  and  who  gave  to  his  family 
an  hereditary  claim  on  the  Stuarts,  was  effectually  revived. 
His  personal  merits,  sympathy  for  his  family,  his  exertions,  the 
petition  of  the  colony,  and,  as  I  believe,  the  real  good- will  of 
Clarendon — for  we  must  not  reject  all  faith  in  generous  feeling 
— easily  prevailed  to  obtain  for  Connecticut  an  ample  patent. 
The  courtiers  of  King  Charles,  who  themselves  had  an  eye  to 
possessions  in  America,  suggested  no  limitations  ;  and  perhaps 
it  was  believed  that  Connecticut  would  serve  to  balance  the 
power  of  Massachusetts." 

Besides  his  remote  ancestry,  the  father  of  Mr.  Winthrop  was 
for  many  years  the  highly-respected  lieutenant-governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts.  After  being  educated  partly  in  private  and  partly  in 
the  public  common  schools  of  Boston,  Robert  C.  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  University  in  the  year  1828,  among  the  three  or  four 
first  scholars.  He  studied  law  with  Daniel  Webster  ;  but,  soon 
after  coming  to  the  bar  in  1831,  was  diverted  to  public  life,  and 
abandoned  all  professional  practice.  In  1834  or  1835  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Massa 
chusetts.  He  remained  in  that  body  for  six  years,  during  the 
last  three  of  which  he  was  Speaker  of  the  House- — a  station 
which  he  filled  with  dignity  and  distinction,  and  in  which  he 
acquired  the  highest  estimation  of  the  people  of  his  state.  In 
familiarity  with  parliamentary  rules,  and  in  courtesy  of  de 
meanor,  combined  with  a  prompt  and  vigorous  administration 
of  the  duties  of  the  chair,  few  men,  it  is  said,  exhibited  a  higher 
degree  of  fitness  for  presiding  over  a  deliberative  assembly. 

In  the  autumn  of  1840  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  to  take 
the  place  of  Abbott  Lawrence,  whose  health  compelled  him  to 
resign  his  seat.  From  that  time  to  the  present  he  has  been  a 
member  of  the  House,  with  the  exception  of  an  interval  of  three 
months  during  the  long  session  of  1842,  when  he  resigned  his 
seat  in  consequence  of  domestic  calamity.  During  that  inter- 


384  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

val  his  place  was  filled  by  Nathan  Appleton.     He  was  married 
in  1832,  but  has  been  a  widower  for  upward  of  five  years. 

He  has  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  important  debates  and 
proceedings  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  As  a  public 
speaker,  we  class  him  in  the  most  elevated  rank  of  either 
branch  of  Congress.  The  evidence  of  his  power  as  a  debater 
may  be  found  in  the  respectful  and,  not  unfrequently,  the  rapt 
attention  with  which  he  is  regarded  when  he  speaks.  His  style 
of  oratory  is  graceful  and  impressive,  ranging,  when  occasion 
demands,  into  the  highest  order  of  fervid  eloquence.  Under 
its  controlling  influence,  we  have  often  seen  the  perturbed  spirit 
of  the  House  hushed  into  profound  stillness ;  as,  for  instance, 
when,  in  one  of  his  speeches  on  the  Mexican  war,  he  said : 

"  Sir,  I  cherish  no  feelings  of  ill  will  toward  Texas.  Now  that  she  is  &  mem 
ber  of  our  Union,  I  would  speak  of  her  in  the  terms  which  belong  to  the  inter 
course  of  sister  states.  But  I  can  not  fail  to  speak  plainly  in  regard  to  the  uncon 
stitutional  act  of  her  annexation,  and  the  disastrous  consequences  which  have  thus 
far  attended  it.  Who  forgets  the  glowing  terms  in  which  the  addition  of  that 
lone  star  to  our  American  constellation  was  heralded  ?  How  much  of  prosperity 
and  of  peace,  of  protection  to  our  labor  and  defense  to  our  land,  was  augured  from 
it?  Who  now  can  reflect  on  its  consequences  as  already  developed;  who  can 
think  of  the  deep  wound  which,  in  the  judgment  of  many,  it  has  inflicted  on  our 
Constitution;  of  the  alienations  and  heart-burnings  which  it  has  produced  among 
different  members  of  the  Union ;  of  the  fearful  lookings-for  of  disunion  which  it 
has  excited;  of  the  treasure  it  has  cost,  and  the  precious  lives  it  has  wasted  in 
the  war  now  in  progress ;  of  the  poison  it  has,  in  so  many  ways,  mingled  with 
the  previously  healthy  current  of  our  national  career,  without  being  reminded  of 
another  lone  star  which  '  fell  from  heaven,  burning  as  it  were  a  lamp,  and  it  fell 
upon  the  third  part  of  the  rivers,  and  upon  the  fountains  of  waters,  and  the  name 
of  the  star  is  called  wormwood,  and  the  third  part  of  the  waters  became  worm 
wood,  and  many  men  died  of  the  waters,  because  they  were  bitter?'  " 

And  again : 

"  Sir,  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  something  of  distrust  is  useful  in  relation  to  all 
human  governments,  and  more  especially  in  relation  to  our  own  government ;  but 
it  is  equally  undeniable  that  some  degree  of  confidence,  that  a  great  deal  of  con 
fidence,  is  not  only  useful,  but  absolutely  indispensable  to  the  successful  opera 
tion  of  every  government,  and  even  to  the  very  existence  of  a  free  government. 
It  is  true,  our  institutions  are  not  based  on  a  theory  of  human  perfectibility,  but 
they  are  based  on  a  theory  of  human  morality,  integrity,  and  virtue.  This  is  the 
distinctive  feature  of  free  governments.  It  was  laid  down  truly  by  Montesquieu, 
long  ago,  that  the  foundation  principle  of  a  despotism  was  fear;  of  monarchy, 
honor ;  but  of  a  republic,  virtue.  There  must  be  public  virtue  as  well  as  private 
virtue — virtue  in  the  government  as  well  as  virtue  among  the  people.  The  two 
things  are,  in  fact,  inseparable  for  any  long  period  of  time ;  for  a  virtuous  people 
will  either  expel  a  corrupt  administration,  or  a  corrupt  administration  will  de 
bauch  a  virtuous  people.  If  virtue,  therefore,  shall  indeed  have  taken  its  final 
flight  from  our  public  councils  and  from  those  who  preside  over  them,  as  this  re 
port  would  almost  seem  to  intimate,  vain,  vain  will  be  the  attempt  to  bolster  up 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WIN  THRO  p.      385 

our  political  fabric  by  any  mere  artificial  machinery,  or  to  prevent  its  downfall  by 
any  degree  of  distrustful  vigilance.  Sir,  if  such  be  really  the  deplorable  and  des 
perate  condition  of  our  Republic,  the  passage  of  this  resolution  will  do  nothing  to 
save  it  from  ruin,  nor  will  the  adoption  of  the  exchequer  plan  be  at  all  responsi 
ble  for  its  overthrow.  It  will  fall  by  its  own  weakness  and  its  own  weight,  like 
any  other  structure  whose  corner-stone  has  already  crumbled  into  dust. 

"  But  I  do  not  apprehend  so  disastrous  a  catastrophe  at  present.  I  freely  ad 
mit  that  we  have  had  no  great  encouragement  to  cherish  any  very  implicit  trust 
in  our  rulers  for  some  years  past.  Within  the  last  year,  even,  we  have  seen  de 
monstrations  and  heard  declarations  but  too  well  calculated  to  check  the  flow, 
if  not  entirely  to  congeal  the  current,  of  that  tide  of  returning  confidence  which 
came  out  to  greet  the  accession  of  a  new  administration.  But  I  am  not  willing 
to  believe  that  the  age  of  virtuous  politics  is  gone  forever.  I  trust  that  we  may 
again  see  at  the  head  of  this  Republic  men  like  those  who  have  stood  there  in  its 
early  days ;  men  like  those  we  have  seen  there  in  years  within  our  own  remem 
brance  ;  men  who  will  feel,  in  entering  upon  public  office,  that  they  have  been  call 
ed  to  no  pitiful  job,  but  to  a  sacred  function;  men  who  may  be  addressed  in  the 
words,  though  certainly  not  in  the  spirit,  in  which  Macbeth  was  addressed  by — 
the  demi-demon,  I  had  almost  said,  with  whom  his  destiny  was  associated: 

" '  What  thou  wouldst  highly,  that  wouldst  thou  holily ; 
Art  not  without  ambition ;  but  without 
The  illness  should  attend  it.' 

And.  sir,  if  such  a  day  should  again  arrive,  how  would  the  petty  and  paltry  con 
tentions  which  imbitter  and  embroil  us  here,  and  in  the  prosecution  of  which  the 
true  interests  of  the  nation  are  so  often  forgotten  and  neglected,  be  hushed  into 
silence !  How  would  the  public  prosperity  revive,  the  public  peace  be  restored, 
the  confidence  of  the  people  in  the  government  be  reassured,  and  the  public  faith 
resume  again,  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  world,  that  robe  of  stainless  and  inviolate 
sanctity  with  which  it  was  first  clothed  by  the  fathers  of  the  Republic !" 

One  more  extract : 

"  If  it  be  a  fit  subject  for  reproach  to  entertain  the  most  anxious  and  ardent  de 
sire  for  the  peace  of  this  country,  its  peace  with  England,  its  peace  with  all  the 
world,  I  submit  myself  willingly  to  the  fullest  measure  of  that  reproach.  War 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  for  Oregon !  Sir,  there  is  some 
thing  in  this  idea  too  monstrous  to  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  The  two  great 
est  nations  on  the  globe,  with  more  territorial  possessions  than  they  know  what 
to  do  with  already,  and  bound  together  by  so  many  ties  of  kindred,  and  lan 
guage,  and  commercial  interest,  going  to  war  for  a  piece  of  barren  earth  f  Why, 
it  would  put  back  the  cause  of  civilization  a  whole  century,  and  would  be  enough 
not  merely  to  call  down  the  rebuke  of  men,  but  the  curse  of  God.  I  do  not  yield 
to  the  honorable  gentleman  in  a  just  concern  for  the  national  honor.  I  am  ready 
to  maintain  that  honor,  whenever  it  is  really  at  stake,  against  Great  Britain  as 
readily  as  against  any  other  nation.  Indeed,  if  war  is  to  come  upon  us,  I  am 
quite  willing  that  it  should  be  war  with  a  first-rate  power— with  a  foeman  wor 
thy  of  our  steel. 

" '  Oh !  the  blood  more  stirs 
To  rouse  the  lion  than  to  start  the  hare.' 

If  the  young  Queen  of  England  were  the  veritable  Victoria  whom  the  ancient 
poets  have  sometimes  described  as  descending  from  the  right  hand  of  Jupiter  to 
crown  the  banner  of  predestined  Triumph,  I  would  still  not  shrink  from  the  at 
tempt  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  my  country  on  every  proper  occasion.  To  her 

VOL.  I.— B  B 


386  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

forces,  however,  as  well  as  to  ours,  may  come  the  '  cita  mars'  as  well  as  the  '  Vic 
toria  Iceta?  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  a  protracted  war  with  any  nation, 
though  our  want  of  preparation  might  give  us  the  worst  of  it  in  the  first  encoun 
ter.  We  are  all  and  always  ready  for  war,  when  there  is  no  other  alternative  for 
maintaining  our  country's  honor.  We  are  all  and  always  ready  for  any  war  into 
which  a  Christian  man,  in  a  civilized  laud,  and  in  this  age  of  the  world,  can  have 
the  face  to  enter.  But  I  thank  God  that  there  are  very  few  such  cases.  War 
and  honor  are  fast  getting  to  have  less  and  less  to  do  with  each  other.  The  high 
est  honor  of  any  country  is  to  preserve  peace,  even  under  provocations  which 
might  justify  war.  The  deepest  disgrace  to  any  country  is  to  plunge  into  war 
under  circumstances  which  leave  the  honorable  alternative  of  peace.  I  heartily 
hope  and  trust,  sir,  that,  in  deference  to  the  sense  of  the  civilized  world — in  def 
erence  to  that  spirit  of  Christianity  which  is  now  spreading  its  benign  and  heal 
ing  influences  over  both  hemispheres  with  such  signal  rapidity,  we  shall  explore 
the  whole  field  of  diplomacy,  and  exhaust  every  art  of  negotiation,  before  we 
give  loose  to  that  passion  for  conflict  which  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Penn 
sylvania  seems  to  regard  as  so  grand  and  glorious  an  element  of  the  American 
character." 

When  the  twenty-seventh  Congress  assembled,  the  financial 
concerns  of  the  government  were  in  a  state  of  confusion  and 
embarrassment.  The  Compromise  Act  was  about  reaching  its 
final  consummation.  The  experiment  wrhich  it  proposed  of  a 
uniform  twenty  per  cent,  ad  valorem  system  was  about  to  com- 
mence,  and  it  was  yet  extremely  uncertain  what  the  financial 
policy  of  the  government  would  be.  In  this  state  of  things,  he 
introduced  a  resolution  instructing  the  Committee  on  Commerce 
to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  providing,  either  by  a  select 
committee  of  Congress  sitting  in  the  recess,  or  by  a  special 
commission  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  for 
taking  evidence  at  the  principal  ports  of  entry  and  elsewhere 
as  to  the  operation  of  the  then  existing  system  and  rates  of  duty 
on  imports,  upon  the  manufacturing,  commercial,  and  agricul 
tural  interests  of  the  country.  The  Committee  on  Commerce, 
through  its  chairman,  made  a  unanimous  report,  concluding 
with  a  resolution  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  select  com 
mittee  of  nine  members,  not  more  than  one  of  whom  should  be 
from  any  one  state,  for  the  purposes  indicated.  The  resolution, 
after  some  debate,  was  adopted  by  the  House,  but  the  vote  was 
immediately  reconsidered,  and  the  resolution  was  finally,  by  a 
small  majority,  laid  upon  the  table. 

At  the  session  of  1842-3,  the  question  for  the  first  time  was 
presented  of  the  imprisonment  of  colored  seamen  from  Massa 
chusetts  in  the  Southern  States.  It  appeared  that  in  the  large 
number  of  Massachusett  vessels  accustomed  to  touch  at  the 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.  387 

Southern  ports  of  the  Union,  it  was  frequently  necessary  to 
employ  free  persons  of  color ;  that  it  often  happened  that  at  the 
ports  of  Charleston,  Savannah,  Mobile,  and  New  Orleans,  these 
persons  were  taken  from  the  vessels  to  which  they  belonged, 
thrown  into  prison,  and  there  detained  at  their  own  expense. 
Upward  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  citizens  of  Boston,  many  of 
them  deeply  interested  in  commerce  and  navigation,  and  others 
eminently  distinguished  in  legal,  scientific,  or  literary  pursuits, 
memorialized  Congress,  asking  that  relief  might  be  granted  to 
them,  and  that  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  secured  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  might  be  rendered  effectual 
in  their  behalf.  The  subject  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on 
Commerce,  who  made  a  report  through  Mr.  Winthrop. 

He  treated  it  in  a  calm  and  dispassionate  manner,  with 
out  reference  to  those  topics  of  agitation  and  excitement  which 
so  often  prevent  a  fair  consideration  of  controversies  between 
the  North  and  the  South.  A  year  or  two  afterward,  we  may 
remark,  the  law  gave  occasion  to  a  discussion  in  the  Legisla 
ture  of  South  Carolina,  and,  after  an  animated  debate,  it  was 
repealed  by  one  branch  of  that  body,  but  the  other  branch  de 
clined  to  concur. 

The  committee  maintained  that  the  acts  complained  of  by 
the  memorialists  were  violations  of  the  privileges  of  citizenship 
secured  by  the  Constitution.  "  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,"  says  the  report,  "  expressly  provides  [art.  4,  sect.  2] 
i  that-  citizens  of  each  state  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges  and 
immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  states."  Now  it  is  well 
understood  that  some  of  the  states  of  this  Union  recognize  no 
distinction  of  color  in  relation  to  citizenship.  Their  citizens 
are  all  free,  their  freemen  all  citizens.  In  Massachusetts,  cer 
tainly — the  state  from  which  this  memorial  emanates — the  col 
ored  man  has  enjoyed  the  full  and  equal  privileges  of  citizen 
ship  since  the  last  remnant  of  slavery  was  abolished  within  her 
borders  by  the  Constitution  of  1780,  nine  years  before  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  therefore,  at  its  adoption,  found  the 
colored  man  of  Massachusetts  a  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  and 
entitled  him,  as  such,  to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of  a 
citizen  in  the  several  states.  And  of  these  privileges  and  im 
munities,  the  acts  set  forth  in  the  memorial  constitute  a  plain 
and  palpable  violation. 


388  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"  It  matters  not  to  this  argument,  in  the  opinion  of  the  com 
mittee,  what  may  be  the  precise  interpretation  given  to  this 
clause  of  the  Constitution.  However  extended  or  however  lim 
ited  may  be  the  privileges  and  immunities  which  it  secures, 
the  citizens  of  each  state  are  entitled  to  them  equally,  without 
discrimination  of  color  or  condition ;  and  unless  it  is  maintain 
ed  that  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts  generally  may  be  made 
subject  to  seizure  and  imprisonment  for  entering  these  South 
ern  ports  in  the  prosecution  of  their  rightful  business,  whenever 
the  Legislatures  of  South  Carolina,  or  Louisiana,  or  Alabama, 
or  Georgia  may  see  fit  to  enact  laws  to  that  effect,  it  is  impos 
sible  to  perceive  upon  what  principle  the  acts  in  question  can 
be  reconciled  with  this  constitutional  provision. 

"  The  state  laws  under  which  these  acts  are  committed  are 
also,  in  the  judgment  of  the  committee,  in  direct  contravention 
of  another  provision  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  gives  the  power  to  Con 
gress  '  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations  and  among 
the  several  states.'  This  power  is,  from  its  very  nature,  a  par 
amount  and  exclusive  power,  and  has  always  been  so  consider 
ed  and  so  construed.  There  is  no  analogy  between  this  power 
of  regulating  commerce  and  most  of  the  other  powers  which 
have  been  granted  to  the  general  government.  The  power  to 
regulate  admits  of  no  partition.  It  excludes  the  idea  of  all 
concurrent,  as  well  as  of  all  conflicting  action.  It  can  be  ex 
ercised  but  by  one  authority.  Regulation  may  be  as  much 
disturbed  and  deranged  by  restraining  what  is  designed  to  be 
left  free,  as  by  licensing  what  is  designed  to  be  restrained. 
The  grant  necessarily  carries  with  it  the  control  of  the  whole 
subject,  leaving  nothing  in  reference  to  it  for  the  states  to  act 
upon.  But  it  is  too  obvious  to  require,  or  even  bear,  an  argu 
ment,  that  the  laws  in  question,  imposing  severe  penalties,  as 
they  do,  upon  certain  classes  of  seamen  for  entering  certain 
ports,  are  infringements,  by  the  states  in  which  they  have  been 
enacted,  upon  this  exclusive  authority  of  the  general  govern 
ment. 

"  Nor  can  the  states  which  have  enacted  these  laws  escape, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  committee,  from  the  charge  of  having 
violated  still  another  provision  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
The  sixth  article  of  that  instrument  declares  that  '  all  treaties 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.       389 

made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  Unit 
ed  States,  shall  be  a  part  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.'  But 
the  provisions  of  the  laws  in  question,  wherever  they  are  appli 
cable  to  the  crews  of  foreign  vessels,  are  in  direct  conflict  with 
most,  if  not  with  all  of  the  commercial  treaties  which  have 
been  made  by  the  United  States  with  foreign  nations.  Cer 
tainly,  no  treaty  of  commerce  between  the  United  States  and 
any  other  nation  is  known  to  the  committee,  which  contains 
any  restrictions  as  to  the  color  of  the  crews  by  which  that  com 
merce  is  to  be  carried  on. 

"  It  seems  to  be  understood  that  the  application  of  these  laws 
to  foreign  vessels  has  of  late  years  been  suspended.  This  con 
sideration,  however,  if  true,  can  not  make  the  laws  themselves 
less  obnoxious  to  constitutional  objections,  still  less  can  it  ren 
der  them  more  acceptable  to  our  own  citizens.  The  idea  that 
foreign  seamen  are  treated  with  greater  clemency  in  our  own 
ports  than  native  American  seamen,  can  only  serve,  on  the  con 
trary,  to  increase  the  impatience  and  aggravate  the  odium  with 
which  such  laws  are  justly  regarded." 

Considering  these  laws  in  the  light  of  police  regulations,  the 
committee  "deny  that  provisions  like  these  can  be  brought 
within  the  legitimate  purview  of  the  police  power.  That  Amer 
ican  or  foreign  seamen,  charged  with  no  crime,  and  infected 
with  no  contagion,  should  be  searched  for  on  board  the  vessels 
to  which  they  belong ;  should  be  seized  while  in  the  discharge 
of  their  duties,  or,  it  may  be,  while  asleep  in  their  berths; 
should  be  dragged  on  shore  and  incarcerated,  without  any  oth 
er  examination  than  an  examination  of  their  skins ;  and  should 
be  rendered  liable,  in  certain  contingencies  over  which  they 
may  have  no  possible  control,  to  be  subjected  to  the  ignominy 
and  agony  of  the  lash,  and  even  to  the  infinitely  more  ignomin 
ious  and  agonizing  fate  of  being  sold  into  slavery  for  life,  and 
all  for  purposes  of  police,  is  an  idea  too  monstrous  to  be  enter 
tained  for  a  moment.  It  would  seem  almost  a  mockery  to  al 
lude  to  the  subject  of  police  regulations  in  connection  with  such 
acts  of  violence." 

The  report  finally  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  following 
resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  seizure  and  imprisonment  in  any  port 
of  this  Union  of  free  colored  seamen,  citizens  of  any  of  the 


390  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

states,  and  against  whom  there  is  no  charge  but  that  of  enter 
ing  said  port  in  the  prosecution  of  their  rightful  business,  is  a 
violation  of  the  privileges  of  citizenship  guaranteed  by  the  sec 
ond  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Unit 
ed  States. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  seizure  and  imprisonment  in  any  port 
of  this  Union  of  free  colored  seamen,  on  board  of  foreign  ves 
sels,  against  whom  there  is  no  charge  but  that  of  entering  said 
port  in  the  course  of  their  lawful  business,  is  a  breach  of  the 
comity  of  nations,  is  incompatible  with  the  rights  of  all  nations 
in  amity  with  the  United  States,  and,  in  relation  to  nations 
with  whom  the  United  States  have  formed  commercial  conven 
tions,  is  a  violation  of  the  sixth  article  of  the  Federal  Consti 
tution,  which  declares  that  treaties  are  a  part  of  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land. 

"  Resolved,  That  any  state  laws  by  which  certain  classes  of 
seamen  are  prohibited  from  entering  certain  ports  of  this  Union, 
in  the  prosecution  of  their  rightful  business,  are  in  contraven 
tion  of  the  paramount  and  exclusive  power  of  the  general  gov 
ernment  to  regulate  commerce. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  police  power  of  the  states  can  justify 
no  enactments  or  regulations  which  are  in  direct,  positive,  and 
permanent  conflict  with  express  provisions  or  fundamental  prin 
ciples  of  the  national  compact." 

The  report  was  called  up  by  Mr.  Winthrop  on  the  first  op 
portunity,  but  at  too  late  a  period  in  the  session,  which  was  a 
short  one,  to  admit  of  discussion.  He  merely,  therefore,  asked 
for  a  vote  on  the  resolutions.  A  motion  was  made  by  Cave 
Johnson,  the  present  Post-master  General,  that  the  subject  be 
laid  on  the  table,  and  the  House  in  that  manner  disposed  of  it. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  existence  of  a  law  of  this  kind  in 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  gave  occasion,  upward  of  twenty 
years  ago,  to  a  formal  remonstrance  to  the  government  of  the 
United  States  on  the  part  of  the  government  of  Great  Britain, 
as  being  in  direct  conflict  with  the  treaty-rights  stipulated  to 
British  commerce.  The  constitutionality  of  the  law  was  de 
nied  by  William'  Wirt,  when  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States.  The  question  was  submitted  to  him  by  the  then  Sec 
retary  of  State,  John  Q.  Adams,  "  whether  it  was  compatible 
with  the  rights  of  nations  in  amity  with  the  United  States,  or 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.       391 

with  the  national  Constitution?"  To  this  interrogatory,  Mr. 
Wirt,  after  briefly  assigning  his  reasons,  replied,  "  I  am  of  opin 
ion  that  the  third  section  of  the  law  under  consideration  is  void, 
as  being  against  the  Constitution,  treaties,  and  laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  incompatible  with  the  rights  of  all  nations 
in  amity  with  the  United  States."  At  a  subsequent  period,  in 
1831,  John  Macpherson  Berrien,  then  Attorney  General  of  the 
United  States,  gave  a  different  opinion.  "  I  think,"  he  said, 
"  that  such  an  act  of  legislation  is,  under  the  circumstances 
which  I  have  supposed,  a  justifiable  exercise  of  the  reserved 
powers  of  that  state,  and  ought  to  have  effect ;  that  Congress 
is  under  a  constitutional  obligation  to  respect  it  in  the  forma 
tion  of  treaties  and  in  the  enactment  of  laws ;  and  that  those 
who  are  called  to  interpret  their  acts  are  equally  bound  so  to 
construe  them  as  to  restrain  the  generality  of  their  expressions 
within  the  limits  of  this  obligation."  We  should  add,  that  out 
of  the  difficulty  arising  under  this  law  with  Great  Britain 
grew  that  celebrated  opinion  of  Judge  William  Johnson,  of  the 
United  States  Court,  delivered  in  Charleston  in  the  year  1823, 
which  has  for  some  years  past  been  so  often  referred  to  and 
commented  upon  during  the  debates  on  certain  topics  in  the 
House  of  Representatives.  [See  title,  ISAAC  E.  HOLMES.] 

The  speech  of  Mr.  Winthrop  on  the  standing  order  of  the 
House,  commonly  known,  during  its  existence,  as  the  twenty- 
first  rule,  is  among  the  ablest  arguments,  both  in  a  constitu 
tional  and  parliamentary  view,  to  be  found  on  the  Northern  side 
of  the  question.  In  the  notice  which  we  shall  hereafter  present 
of  Mr.  Adams,  it  will  become  our  duty  to  place  in  an  intelligi 
ble  form  before  the  public  the  whole  policy  of  the  House  in  re 
lation  to  petitions  touching  the  abolition  of  slavery.  We  mere 
ly  refer  to  it  now,  that,  as  we  pass  along,  we  may  place  on  rec 
ord  the  general  views  which  have  governed  the  votes  of  Mr. 
Winthrop.  He  says : 

'"-The  idea  that  the  right  of  petition  does  not  imply  the  right 
of  having  a  petition  received ;  the  doctrine  that  the  right  of 
the  people  to  apply  to  the  government  for  redress  of  grievances 
does  not  involve  any  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  government 
to  heed,  or  even  hear,  that  application ;  the  position  which  has 
been  seriously  maintained  here,  that  all  that  was  ever  intended 
by  the  right  of  petition  was  the  right  of  individuals  or  of  assem- 


392  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

blies  to  prepare  and  sign  a  paper,  setting  forth  the  grievances 
under  which  they  are  suffering,  and  the  redress  which  they  seek  ; 
and  that  it  was  no  part  of  that  intention  to  secure  to  that  paper 
any  consideration  or  entertainment  whatever  from  those  to 
whom  it  is  addressed — these  doctrines  seem  to  me  about  as 
reasonable  as  it  would  be  to  contend  that  the  privilege  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  implies  no  obligation  on  the  part  of  the 
officer  to  whom  it  is  directed  to  regard  or  obey  the  writ,  and  no 
duty  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  execute  or  enforce  it,  but 
is  only  .designed  to  secure  to  an  imprisoned  citizen  the  satisfac 
tion  of  having  the  writ  itself  duly  signed  and  attested,  to  amuse 
himself  with  in  his  solitary  confinement,  to  meditate  upon  by 
day,  or  to  put  under  his  pillow  to  dream  upon  by  night.  They 
seem  to  me  about  as  reasonable  as  it  would  be  to  maintain  that 
the  freedom  of  the  press  extends  only  to  the  freedom  of  the  me 
chanical  enginery  of  the  press  ;  that  it  was  only  intended  to  se 
cure  the  rights  of  individual  printers  to  compose,  set  up,  and 
strike  off  such  matter  as  might  be  agreeable  to  them,  but  that 
it  does  not  reach  to  the  privilege  of  publishing  or  circulating 
that  matter  after  it  is  stricken  off!  In  a  word,  Mr.  Speaker, 
if  the  right  of  petition  is  really  nothing  more  than  it  has  been 
represented  to  be  by  some  of  the  honorable  members  who  have 
preceded  me  in  this  debate,  it  is,  in  my  judgment,  as  poor  a 
pretense,  as  miserable  a  mockery,  as  empty,  and  unmeaning,  and 
worthless  an  abstraction,  as  was  ever  dignified  by  a  swelling 
name  or  a  high-sounding  title ;  and  the  sooner  it  is  expunged 
from  the  roll  of  civil  liberty,  the  sooner  it  ceases  to  hold  out  to 
the  ear  a  promise  only  to  be  broken  to  the  hope,  the  sooner  will 
the  people  understand  wrhat  rights  they  really  do  possess." 

And  again : 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  we  ask  for  these  petitions  only  that  you  will 
treat  them  as  you  treat  other  petitions.  We  set  up  for  them 
no  absurd  or  extravagant  pretensions ;  we  claim  for  them  no 
exclusive  or  engrossing  attention.  We  desire  only  that  you  will 
adopt  no  prescriptive  and  passionate  course  in  regard  to  them. 
We  demand  only  that  you  will  allow  them  to  go  through  the 
same  orderly  round  of  reception,  reference,  and  report  with  all 
other  petitions.  When  they  have  gone  through  that  round,  they 
will  be  just  as  much  under  your  own  control  as  they  were  be 
fore  they  entered  on  it. 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      393 

"  I  heartily  hope,  sir,  this  course  is  now  about  to  be  adopted. 
T  hope  it  as  an  advocate  of  the  right  of  petition ;  I  hope  it  as  a 
Northern  man  with  Northern  principles,  if  you  please  to  term 
me  so ;  but  I  hope  it  not  less  as  an  American  citizen  with 
American  principles ;  as  a  friend  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union ;  as  one  who  is  as  little  disposed  to  interfere  with  any 
rights  of  other  states,  as  to  surrender  any  rights  of  his  own  state ; 
as  one  who,  though  he  may  see  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
which  are  odious  in  principle  and  unjust  in  practice — provisions 
which  he  would  gladly  have  had  omitted  at  the  outset,  and  glad 
ly  see  altered  now,  if  such  an  alteration  were  practicable — is  yet 
willing  to  stand  by  our  Constitution  as  it  is,  our  Union  as  it  is, 
our  territory  as  it  is.     I  do  honestly  believe  that  the  course  of 
this  House  in  relation  to  these  petitions  has  done  more  than  all 
other  causes  combined  to  bring  the  Constitution  into  disregard 
and  the  Union  into  danger.     Other  causes  have,  indeed,  co-op 
erated  with  this  cause.     Your  arbitrary  and  oppressive  state 
laws  for  imprisoning  our  free  colored  seamen  in  the  Southern 
ports ;  your  abhorrent  proposals  to  annex  Texas  to  the  Union, 
in  violation  of  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution— yes,  sir, 
of  those  very  compromises  on  which  Adams  and  Hancock  met 
Jefferson  and  Madison  (to  use  language  which  was  employed  in 
casting  reproach  upon  the  resolutions  of  Massachusetts  which 
were  recently  presented  here)— these  laws  and  these  proposals 
have  unquestionably  co-operated  of  late  with  the  denial  of  the 
right  of  petition  in  exciting  in  some  quarters  a  spirit  of  discon 
tent  with  our  existing  system.     But  this  rule  of  the  House  has 
been  the  original  spring  of  the  whole  feeling ;  and  to  what  ad 
vantage  on  the  part  of  those  by  whom  it  was  devised  ?     Have 
Southern  institutions  been  any  safer  since  its  establishment? 
Have  the  enemies  to  those  institutions  been  rendered  any  less 
ardent  or  less  active  by  it?     Has  agitation  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  in  this  hall  been  repressed  or  allayed  by  it  ?     Have  these 
petitions  and  resolutions  been  diminished  in  number  under  its 
operation  and  influence  ?     No,  sir ;  the  very  reverse,  the  pre 
cise  opposite  of  all  this  has  been  the  result.     The  attempt  of 
this  House  to  suppress  and  silence  all  utterance  on  the  subject 
of  slavery  in  this  hall,  has  terminated  as  did  the  attempt  of  one 
of  the  kings  of  ancient  Judah  to  suppress  the  warnings  of  the 
prophet  of  God.     The  prophet,  we  are  told,  took  another  roll, 


394  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

and  wrote  on  it  all  the  words  which  the  king  had  burned  in  the 
fire,  and  *  there  were  added  besides  unto  them  many  like  words.' 
And  this  always  has  been,  and  always  will  be,  the  brief  history 
of  every  effort  to  silence  free  inquiry  and  stifle  free  discussion. 
I  thank  Heaven  that  it  is  so.  It  is  this  interest  and  inextin 
guishable  elasticity  of  opinion,  of  conscience,  of  inquiry,  which, 
like  the  great  agent  of  modern  art,  gains  only  new  force,  fresh 
vigor,  redoubled  powers  of  progress  and  propulsion  by  every 
degree  of  compulsion  and  restraint ;  it  is  this  to  which  the 
world  owes  all  the  liberty  it  has  yet  acquired,  and  to  which  it 
will  owe  all  that  is  yet  in  store  for  it.  Well  did  John  Milton 
exclaim,  in  his  noble  defense  of  unlicensed  printing,  '  Give  me 
the  liberty  to  know,  to  utter,  and  to  argue  freely,  above  all  lib 
erties  ;'  for,  in  securing  that,  we  secure  the  all-sufficient  instru 
ment  for  achieving  all  other  liberties." 

The  early  and  consistent  opposition  manifested  by  Mr.  Win- 
throp  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  is  matter  of  notoriety.  On 
the  14th  of  March,  1844,  when  rumors  were  rife  that  a  treaty 
would  soon  be  sent  in  by  Mr.  Tyler  for  the  ratification  of  the 
Senate,  and  when  Isaac  E.  Holmes,  of  South  Carolina,  alluded 
to  annexation,  for  the  first  time  in  debate,  as  the  settled  policy 
of  the  government,  Mr.  Winthrop  thus  remonstrated : 

"  The  remark,"  he  said,  "seemed  to  have  been  made  partly 
in  jest,  partly  in  earnest ;  yet  there  were  some  subjects  that 
were  too  solemn  in  their  character,  and  too  momentous  in  the 
consequences  they  involved,  to  be  even  thus  adverted  to  with 
out  eliciting  the  most  serious  feeling.  He  alluded  to  the  idea 
thrown  out  by  the  gentleman  that  this  institution  [i.  e.,  the 
West  Point  Academy]  ought  to  be  sustained,  because  the  an 
nexation  of  Texas  was  the  settled  policy  of  this  government. 
Who  settled  it?  Not,  he  would  undertake  to  say,  not  the  peo 
ple,  nor  the  representatives  of  the  people.  They  knew  nothing 
about  it,  though  he  believed  there  were  others  who  did  know. 
He  feared  that  there  was  something  serious  in  this  matter. 
He  was  almost  afraid  that  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina 
intended  to  try  the  temper  of  the  House  and  the  country  by 
throwing  out  the  idea,  as  he  (Mr.  Winthrop)  had  said,  half  in 
jest,  half  in  earnest ;  and  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr. 
Weller)  had  commented  upon  it,  not  exactly  in  the  terms  which 
he  (Mr.  Winthrop)  would  like  to  have  heard  from  a  represent- 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WIN  THRO  p.       395 

ative  of  that  state.  He  believed  that  there  was  no  little  danger 
that  the  people  of  the  country  were  about  to  be  taken  by  sur 
prise  on  this  subject  of  the  annexation  of  Texas ;  he  believed 
that  that  momentous  project,  which,  in  his  judgment,  would 
endanger  the  stability  of  the  Union,  and  which  was  utterly  ab 
horrent  to  the  feelings  of  the  people  in  his  section  of  country, 
was  at  this  moment  in  a  train  of  secret  and  stealthy  negotia 
tion.  He  hoped  that  a  call  would  be  made  upon  the  executive 
for  information. 

"  Mr.  Black  rose  to  a  question  of  relevancy,  which  gave  rise 
to  a  brief  conversation. 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  said  he  should  have  concluded  what  he  had 
to  say  by  this  time  if  the  gentleman  had  not  interposed.  He 
had  stated  his  fears ;  he  had  stated  what,  in  his  opinion,  it  was 
the  duty  of  this  House  to  do  ;  and  he  would  now  only  add,  in 
answer  to  the  argument  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina, 
that  if  he  (Mr.  Winthrop)  believed  that  the  continued  existence 
and  prosperity  of  this  academy  was  to  encourage  the  govern 
ment  to  plunge  the  country  into  a  war  with  Mexico  by  persist 
ing  in  the  annexation  of  Texas,  he  would  this  instant  give  his 
vote  to  level  it  to  the  ground." 

On  the  following  day  he  endeavored  to  introduce  a  resolution 
declaring  that  no  proposition  for  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the 
United  States  ought  to  be  made,  or  assented  to,  by  this  gov 
ernment,  but  the  House  would  not  receive  it. 

His  opposition  to  the  mode  by  which  the  project  was  finally 
accomplished — namely,  by  joint  resolution — is  equally  well 
known.  When  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  at  that  time  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  reported  the  joint  res 
olution  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  Mr.  Winthrop  said : 

"  He  held  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  report  to  be  in  vio 
lation  of  the  Constitution,  and  laws,  and  rights  of  the  states ; 
and  he  believed,  if  carried  into  execution,  they  were  eminently 
calculated  to  involve  the  country  in  an  unjust  and  dishonorable 
war.  He  also  held  them  to  be  particularly  objectionable  on  the 
question  of  slavery." 

On  a  subsequent  day,  January  6th,  1845,  he  summed  up  an 
elaborate  argument  with  these  positions : 

"  I  am  against  annexation  now  and  always,  because  I  be 
lieve  it  to  be  clearly  unconstitutional  in  substance ;  because  it 


396  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

will  break  up  the  balance  of  our  system,  violate  the  compro 
mises  of  the  Constitution,  and  endanger  the  permanence  of  our 
Union ;  and,  above  all,  because  I  am  uncompromisingly  oppos 
ed  to  the  extension  of  domestic  slavery,  or  to  the  addition  of  an 
other  inch  of  slaveholding  territory  to  this  nation." 

That  policy,  however,  once  consummated,  every  vestige  of 
opposition  ceased,  and  he  has  accorded  to  Texas  and  her  inter 
ests  as  willing  an  ear  and  as  liberal  a  hand  as  if  she  had  been 
one  of  the  original  sisterhood.  His  rule  of  conduct  toward  her 
is  well  embodied  in  the  sentiment  given  by  him  at  Faneuil 
Hall  on  the  4th  of  July,  1845 : 

"  OUR  COUNTRY  :  bounded  by  the  St.  John's  and  the  Sabine, 
or  however  otherwise  bounded  or  described,  and  be  the  meas 
urements  more  or  less,  still  our  country — to  be  cherished  in 
all  our  hearts,  to  be  defended  by  all  our  hands." 

This  toast  was  given  at  a  dinner  at  Faneuil  Hall,  which  im 
mediately  followed  the  city  oration  of  the  4th  of  July,  wherein 
some  ultraisms  and  extravagances  had  been  advocated  upon 
the  subject  of  the  military  and  naval  defenses  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Winthrop  was  among  the  foremost  of  those  members 
of  both  branches  of  Congress  who,  in  the  Oregon  controversy, 
boldly  stood  forth  to  stem  the  current  of  that  popular  feeling 
which  seemed  to  have  set  in  irresistibly  toward  war  with  En 
gland.  [See  title,  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS.]  His  efforts  at  three 
successive  sessions  can  not  fail  to  be  remembered  and  appre 
ciated  by  all  sincere  friends  of  peace.  He  was  conscious  of  the 
reproaches  to  which,  unfortunately,  every  public  man  in  our 
country  is  subjected  who  dares  to  take  the  side  of  peace ;  and, 
in  one  of  his  speeches,  he  thus  regards  them : 

"  I  am  perfectly  aware,  Mr.  Speaker,  that,  express  the  views 
which  I  entertain  when  I  may,  I  shall  not  escape  reproach  and 
imputation  from  some  quarters  of  the  House.  I  know  that 
there  are  those  by  whom  the  slightest  syllable  of  dissent  from 
the  extreme  views  which  the  administration  would  seem  re 
cently  to  have  adopted,  will  be  eagerly  seized  upon  as  evidence 
of  a  want  of  what  they  call  patriotism  and  American  spirit.  I 
spurn  all  such  imputations  in  advance.  I  spurn  the  notion  that 
patriotism  can  only  be  manifested  by  plunging  the  nation  into 
war,  or  that  the  love  of  one's  own  country  can  only  be  meas 
ured  by  one's  hatred  to  any  other  country.  Sir,  the  American 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      397 

spirit  that  is  wanted  at  the  present  moment,  wanted  for  our 
highest  honor,  wanted  for  our  dearest  interests,  is  that  which 
dares  to  confront  the  mad  impulses  of  a  superficial  popular  sen 
timent,  and  to  appeal  to  the  sober  second  thoughts  of  moral  and 
intelligent  men.  Every  schoolboy  can  declaim  about  honor  and 
war,  the  British  lion  and  the  American  eagle ;  and  it  is  a  vice 
of  our  nature,  that  the  calmest  of  us  have  heartstrings  which 
may  vibrate  for  a  moment  even  to  such  vulgar  touches.  But 
(thanks  to  the  institutions  of  education  and  religion  which 
our  fathers  founded)  the  great  mass  of  the  American  people 
have  also  an  intelligence  and  a  moral  sense  which  will  sooner 
or  later  respond  to  appeals  of  a  higher  and  nobler  sort,  if  we 
will  only  have  the  firmness  to  make  them." 

The  principle  upon  which  the  whole  of  his  action  was  based 
was  this,  that  the  American  title  to  Oregon  was  the  best  then 
in  existence,  but  that  the  whole  character  of  that  title  was 
too  confused  and  complicated  to  justify  any  arbitrary  and  ex 
clusive  assertions  of  right,  and  that  a  compromise  of  the  ques 
tion  was  in  every  way  consistent  with  reason,  interest,  and  hon 
or.  Entertaining  these  views,  he  introduced,  on  the  19th  of 
December,  1845,  the  following  resolutions : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  differences  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  on  the  subject  of  the  Oregon  Terri 
tory  are  still  a  subject  for  negotiation  and  compromise,  and 
that  satisfactory  evidence  has  not  yet  been  afforded  that  no 
compromise  which  the  United  States  ought  to  accept  can  be 
effected. 

"  2.  Resolved^  That  it  would  be  a  dishonor  to  the  age  in 
which  we  live,  and  in  the  highest  degree  discreditable  to  both 
the  nations  concerned,  if  they  shall  suffer  themselves  to  be 
drawn  into  a  war  upon  a  question  of  no  immediate  or  practical 
interest  to  either  of  them. 

"  3.  Resolved^  That  if  no  other  mode  for  the  amicable  ad 
justment  of  this  question  remains,  it  is  due  to  the  principles  of 
civilization  and  Christianity  that  a  resort  to  arbitration  should 
be  had,  and  that  this  government  can  not  relieve  itself  from  all 
responsibility  which  may  follow  the  failure  to  settle  the  contro 
versy  while  this  result  is  still  untried. 

"  4.  Resolved^  That  arbitration  does  not  necessarily  involve 
a  reference  to  crowned  heads ;  and  that,  if  a  jealousy  of  such  a 


398  HISTORY   OP   CONGRESS. 

reference  is  entertained  in  any  quarter,  a  commission  of  able 
and  dispassionate  citizens,  either  from  the  two  countries  con 
cerned  or  from  the  world  at  large,  offers  itself  as  an  obvious 
and  unobjectionable  alternative." 

These  resolutions  contained  the  earliest  distinct  proposition 
of  arbitration  by  civil  commissioners  instead  of  crowned  heads. 
They  received  complimentary  notices  from  many  sources,  do 
mestic  and  foreign.  Thiers  alluded  to  them  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  and  Louis  Philippe  was  said,  in  the  papers  of  the 
time,  to  have  spoken  of  them  in  terms  of  commendation. 

That  Mr.  Winthrop  did  not  escape  the  suspicions  and  impu 
tations  which  he  himself  anticipated  in  the  extract  we  have 
quoted,  those  conversant  with  the  public  concerns  of  that  day 
are  aware.  For  example,  in  debate  in  the  House, 

"  Mr.  M'Clernand  alluded  to  the  proposition  of  arbitration 
(in  the  form  of  a  resolution  heretofore  offered  by  Mr.  Winthrop), 
and  spoke  of  its  similarity  to  that  subsequently  offered  by  the 
British  minister  as  a  remarkable  coincidence. 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  here  rose  and  inquired  whether  the  honorable 
member  from  Illinois  [Mr.  M'Clernand]  intended  to  impute  to 
him  any  collusion  or  understanding  with  the  British  minister 

"  Mr.  M'Clernand  said  he  did  not.  What  he  said  was,  that 
the  coincidence  in  the  views  of  the  gentleman  with  those  of  the 
British  minister  was  remarkable. 

"  Mr.  Winthrop.  'Then,  as  the  gentleman  disclaims  any  offen 
sive  imputation,  I  desire  to  take  this  opportunity  to  set  myself 
right,  as  this  is  the  same  remark  that  was  made  by  the  gentle 
man  from  Pennsylvania  [Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll],  in  his  speech  at 
the  close  of  the  Oregon  debate.  I  desire  to  say,  in  the  pres 
ence  of  my  God,  and  in  the  presence  of  my  country  as  repre 
sented  by  the  representatives  of  the  people  here,  that  neither  at 
the  time  I  moved  the  resolution  looking  to  arbitration,  on  the 
19th  of  December,  nor  upon  the  day — the  3d  of  January — on 
which  I  made  the  speech  advocating  it,  had  I  the  slightest 
knowledge — the  slightest  knowledge — the  slightest  foundation 
for  a  belief,  that  a  proposition  of  arbitration,  in  any  form  or  un 
der  any  circumstances,  had  been,  or  was  about  to  be,  offered 
by  the  British  minister  to  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
If  any  gentleman  desires  any  further  explanation,  I  am  here 
ready  to  give  it.' 


ROBERT   CHARLES   WINTHROP.  399 

"  Mr.  M* demand.  ' I  did  not  base  my  observations  on  any 
imputation  of  coalition  or  combination  between  the  gentleman 
and  the  British  minister  on  the  question  of  Oregon.  I  spoke 
of  the  fact  that  the  gentleman  had  submitted  a  series  of  reso 
lutions,  in  which  the  proposition  subsequently  made  by  Mr. 
Pakenham  was  embodied,  as  a  remarkable  fact  of  coincidence. 
Far  be  it  from  me  to  impeach  the  patriotism  of  any  man,  un 
less  I  have  satisfactory  ground  for  the  accusation.  But  I  will 
say  that,  while  the  gentleman  is  so  free  to  criticize  the  conduct 
of  those  who  differ  with  him  in  political  opinion,  he  should  be 
careful  so  to  comport  himself  as  not  to  lay  himself  open  to  re 
taliation.'  " 

We  have  referred  to  the  character  of  the  hostility  manifest 
ed  toward  Mr.  Winthrop  in  his  district  in  consequence  of  his 
vote  on  the  Mexican  War  Bill.  Condemning  the  policy,  and 
denouncing  the  objects  of  that  war,  he  still  voted  for  the  act, 
approved  the  13th  of  May,  1846,  recognizing  its  existence. 
The  principal  charges  against  him  were  these : 

"  1.  That,  in  voting  for  the  Mexican  War  Bill,  he  voted  for 
a  preamble  which  contained  a  false  declaration  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  war,  and  for  which,  as  an  honest  man,  he  had  no  right 
to  vote. 

"  2.  That,  in  voting  for  the  War  Bill  at  all,  he  was  false  to 
the  sentiments  and  principles  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts, 
who  condemn  the  war  because  of  its  alleged  origin,  and  the  al 
leged  purpose  of  its  origin,  viz.,  that  it  was  commenced  for  the 
purpose  of  adding  slave  territory  to  the  Union. 

"  3.  That,  in  thus  voting  for  the  War  Bill,  he  identified  him 
self  with  the  war,  its  origin,  causes,  and  effects." 

As  we  shall  have  occasion,  in  many  parts  of  our  history,  to 
refer  to  the  declaratory  act  of  war,  we  avail  ourselves  of  this 
opportunity  to  give  an  outline  of  the  proceedings  connected  with 
its  passage.  We  copy  from  the  Congressional  Globe  the  fol 
lowing  record  of  the  llth  of  May : 

"A  message,  in  writing,  was  received  from  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  by  the  hands  of  J.  K.  Walker,  Esq.,  his 
private  secretary.* 

*  This  message  called  upon  Congress  to  recognize  the  state  of  hostilities  which, 
it  asserted,  then  existed  by  the  act  of  Mexico,  and  to  authorize  the  President  to 
raise  volunteers,  &c. 


400  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"•  The  message,  by  unanimous  consent,  was  read. 

"  Mr.  Haralson  said  the  correspondence  was  very  voluminous ; 
a  large  portion  of  it  was  from  our  minister  recently  at  Mexico, 
and  to  read  it  would,  perhaps,  be  delaying  the  action  of  the 
House  longer  than  gentlemen  desired.  The  general  facts  of 
the  correspondence  had  been  detailed  in  the  President's  mes 
sage.  He  had  referred  not  only  to  the  correspondence  with  the 
minister  at  Mexico,  but  also  to  the  correspondence  between 
General  Taylor  and  the  department ;  and  as  the  reading  would 
take  a  considerable  time,  he  (Mr.  H.)  moved  that  the  message 
and  documents  be  laid  on  the  table. 

"  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll  was  understood  to  say  he  was  not  sure 
but  that  we  knew  a  good  deal  of  the  correspondence  between 
Mr.  Slidell  and  the  Mexican  government,  inasmuch  as  it  had 
been  published  by  that  government.  He  did  not  know  wheth 
er  this  was  that  correspondence  or  not. 

"  Mr.  Haralson  moved  that  the  message  and  documents  be 
laid  on  the  table  and  printed,  and  he  demanded  the  previous 
question. 

"  Mr.  G.  Davis  suggested  that  at  least  the  correspondence 
between  General  Taylor  and  the  department  should  be  read. 

"  Mr.  Haralson.  *  I  have  made  my  motion.' 

"  A  conversation  followed  on  a  point  of  order  between  Mr. 
Sohenck,  Mr.  G.  Davis,  and  the  speaker. 

"  Mr.  Schenck  called  for  the  reading  of  the  documents,  which 
led  to  a  point  of  order,  and  an  appeal  by  Mr.  Schenck  from 
the  decision  made  by  the  chair,  which  decision  the  House  sus 
tained. 

"  Mr.  Delano  asked  the  yeas  and  nays  on  the  motion  to  lay 
on  the  table  and  print. 

"  Mr.  Ashmun  called  for  the  reading  of  the  papers. 

"  The  speaker  decided  that,  until  the  motion  to  lay  on  the 
table  (which  was  a  privileged  motion)  was  withdrawn,  the  gen 
tleman  could  not  make  a  motion  for  the  reading  of  the  papers. 

"  Mr.  Rathbun  submitted  that  the  previous  question  had  been 
demanded. 

"  The  speaker  said  yes ;  but,  in  addition  to  that,  the  motion 
to  lay  on  the  table  was  not  debatable. 

"  A  conversation  followed  on  a  point  of  order  between  the 
speaker  and  Mr.  Winthrop. 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      401 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  asked  a  division  of  the  question,  whicli  was 
ordered. 

"  The  question  was  taken,  and  the  papers  were  ordered  to 
be  laid  on  the  table. 

"The  question  recurring  on  the  printing,  Mr.  Winthrop  call 
ed  for  the  reading. 

"  Objected  to. 

"  The  speaker  put  the  question,  and  declared  the  decision  of 
the  House  to  be  that  the  papers  should  not  be  read. 

"  Some  conversation  followed  on  a  point  of  order  between 
Mr.  Schenck  and  the  speaker. 

"  Mr.  Schenck  moved  a  reconsideration  of  the  vote  by  whicli 
the  reading  had  been  refused,  and  asked  the  yeas  and  nays, 
which  were  ordered. 

"  Mr.  L.  H.  Sims  moved  to  lay  the  motion  to  reconsider  on 
the  table. 

"  Mr.  Schenck  asked  the  yeas  and  nays,  which  were  ordered, 
and,  being  taken,  were,  yeas  116,  nays  69. 

"  So  the  motion  to  reconsider  was  laid  on  the  table. 

"  The  question  recurring  on  the  demand  for  the  previous 
question  (on  the  motion  to  print),  after  some  conversation  be 
tween  Messrs.  Preston  King,  Haralson,  and  the  speaker,  Mr. 
Haralson  (explaining  that  his  object  was,  that  such  portions  of 
the  correspondence  as  might  be  deemed  necessary  should  be 
read  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union) 
moved  that  the  papers  be  taken  from  the  table  and  referred  to 
that  committee. 

"Ordered  accordingly. 

"And,  after  some  further  conversation,  the  previous  ques 
tion  was  seconded.  The  main  question  was  ordered,  and  the 
papers  were  ordered  to  be  printed. 

"  Mr.  Brodhead  indicated,  but  did  not  press,  a  motion  to 
print  an  additional  number  of  copies. 

"  On  motion  of  Mr.  Haralson,  the  House  resolved  itself  into 
Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  pro 
ceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  following  bill : 

"  '  An  act  to  authorize  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
under  certain  contingencies  therein  named,  to  accept  the  ser 
vices  of  volunteers,  and  for  other  purposes.'  ' 

Here  follows  the  bill.     It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  pre- 

YOL.  I.— C  c 


402  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

pared  for  the  particular  emergency  with  Mexico,  but  rather  as 
a  sort  of  general  provision  "  for  all  comers ;"  for  it  is  declar 
ed,  on  the  face  of  the  bill  itself,  to  have  been  reported  by  Mr. 
Haralson,  from  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  so  far  back 
as  the  27th  of  the  previous  January — a  time  when  the  "  clear 
and  unquestionable  title  to  the  whole  of  the  Oregon  Territory" 
bloomed  in  all  its  freshness.  And  its  first  section  authorized 
the  President  "  to  resist  any  attempt  which  may  be  made  on 
the  part  of  any  foreign  nation  to  exclusive  jurisdiction  over 
any  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  or  any  territory 
in  dispute  between  the  United  States  and  any  foreign  govern 
ment,  as  well  as  also  to  sustain  the  rights  of  the  United  States 
to,  and  to  repel  invasion  upon,  the  said  territory,"  &c. 

In  fact,  the  bill,  though  afterward  altered  and  made  appli 
cable  to  Mexico  alone,  was  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Haralson,  then 
chairman  of  the  Military  Committee,  in  conjunction  with  the 
late  Colonel  Archibald  Yell,  who  fell,  gallantly  leading  his  reg 
iment  to  the  charge,  at  Buena  Vista ;  and,  as  originally  drawn, 
was  intended  to  prepare  for  the  worst,  both  as  respects  Great 
Britain  and  Mexico.  The  number  of  troops  was  left  blank, 
and  was  subsequently  filled  up  with  the  number  of  fifty  thou 
sand  ;  but  one  hundred  thousand  would  have  been  proposed,  if 
thought  necessary.  A  comparison  of  dates  will  show  that  the 
bill  was  reported  to  the  House  several  months  before  the  receipt 
of  the  news  from  General  Taylor's  army  which  led  to  the  dec 
laration  of  war.  On  the  receipt  of  that  news,  the  Military 
Committee  were  notified  to  attend  at  their  room  in  the  Capitol 
at  half  past  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,  which  was  Sun 
day.  They  then  acted  upon  the  subject,  and  the  next  day,  on 
receipt  of  the  President's  Message,  the  bill  was  passed. 

The  record  then  goes  on  to  say : 

"  .The  bill  was  read,  and  considerable  conversation  followed 
on  a  call  for  the  reading  of  the  documents. 

"  The  committee,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Brinckerhoff,  then  rose 
and  reported  progress. 

"  Mr.  Brinckerhoff  offered  a  resolution  to  close  the  debate  in 
committee  in  two  hours. 

"  Mr.  Darragh  moved  that  the  resolution  be  laid  on  the  table, 
and  asked  the  yeas  and  nays,  which  were  refused.  And  the 
question  being  taken,  the  resolution  was  not  laid  on  the  table. 


ROBERT   CHARLES   WINTHROP.  403 

"  The  demand  for  the  previous  question  was  then  seconded, 
and  the  main  question  (on  the  adoption  of  the  resolution)  was 
ordered. 

"  Mr.  Sehenck  asked  the  yeas  and  nays,  which  were  refused, 
and  then  the  resolution  was  adopted ;  whereupon  the  House 
again  resolved  itself  into  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State 
of  the  Union  (Mr.  Hopkins,  of  Virginia,  in  the  chair),  and  re 
sumed  the  consideration  of  the  said  bill. 

"  The  reading  of  certain  portions  of  the  documents  was  order 
ed,  and  about  an  hour  and  a  half  was  occupied  in  the  process. 

"  The  reading  having  been  concluded, 

"  Mr.  Brinckerhoff  (a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs)  said  he  had  a  substitute  for  the  first  section  of  this  bill, 
which  he  desired  to  be  read,  and  to  say  a  very  few  words  in  ex 
planation  of  the  object  for  which  he  offered  it. 

"  Mr.  Haralson.  '  Will  the  gentleman  allow  me  to  state  to 
the  committee  the  amendments  which  I  intend  to  offer  from 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  ?' 

"  Mr.  Giddings  rose  to  a  question  of  order. 

"In  the  first  communication  from  General  Taylor,  he  spoke 
of  the  protest  of  the  civil  authorities  of  Tamaulipas  which  ac 
companied  that  paper.  Mr.  Giddings  wished  to  know  if  that 
protest  had  been  read. 

"  The  chairman  replied  that  all  the  papers  had  been  read  ex 
cept  those  the  reading  of  which  had  been  dispensed  with  by  vote 
of  the  House." 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  though  the  message  was  read  in  the 
House,  the  documents  constituting  the  evidence  of  the  existing 
relations  between  the  two  countries  were  not  read ;  and  that, 
after  passing  into  committee,  and  listening  to  the  reading  of  the 
bill,  the  committee  rose,  and  the  House  adopted  a  resolution  ter 
minating  all  debate  in  two  hours ;  that  the  House  then  went 
back  into  committee,  where  certain  portions  of  the  correspond 
ence — that  is  to  say,  the  military  dispatches,  of  dates  subse 
quent  to  the  march  to  Corpus  Christi,  and  the  instructions  of 
the  Secretary  of  War — were  read.  These  dispatches  made  it 
certain  that  the  Mexicans  were  concentrating  their  forces  toward 
the  American  camp ;  and  a  dispatch  from  General  Taylor,  dated 
the  26th  of  April,  sent  by  express,  made  known  the  fact  that 
Arista  had  taken  the  command  of  the  Mexican  army,  and  had 


404  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS, 

signified  to  him  that  hostilities  had  commenced ;  that  a  party 
which  General  Taylor  had  sent  out  two  days  before  had  all 
been  cut  off;  that  he  had  called  on  the  governors  of  Texas  and 
Louisiana  for  volunteers — a  large  auxiliary  force  of  five  thou 
sand  men ;  and  asking  to  have  a  law  passed  authorizing  the 
President  to  raise  volunteers.  Not  Congress  alone,  but  the 
whole  country,  knew  General  Taylor's  army  to  be  in  a  position 
of  extreme  peril.  His  dispatch  closed  with  these  words,  which, 
from  so  great  and  brave  a  man,  meant  a  great  deal :  "  If  a  law 
could  be  passed  authorizing  the  President  to  raise  volunteers 
for  twelve  months,  it  would  be  of  the  greatest  importance  for  a 
service  so  remote  from  support  as  this." 

The  bill,  as  originally  reported  from  the  Committee  on  Mili 
tary  Affairs,  contained  no  preamble.  The  proposition,  in  the 
form  of  a  preamble,  which  was  subsequently  appended  to  the 
bill,  was  prepared  in  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs  by  Mr. 
Haralson ;  but  that  committee  did  not  report  it  to  the  House.  ? 

The  first  motion  submitted  in  the  House,  which  embodied  the 
principle  subsequently  incorporated  in  the  bill,  was  made  by 
Mr.  Brinckerhoff,  of  Ohio,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  Whereas,  by  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  a  state  of 
war  exists  between  the  United  States  and  that  republic : 

"  Be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  as 
sembled,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is 
hereby  authorized,  in  order  to  prosecute  the  same  to  a  success 
ful  termination,  and  to  resist  any  attempt  which  may  be  made 
on  the  part  of  any  foreign  nation  to  exclusive  jurisdiction  over 
any  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  or  any  territory 
in  dispute  between  the  United  States  and  any  foreign  govern 
ment,  and  to  sustain  the  rights  of  the  United  States  to,  and  to 
repel  invasion  upon  said  territory,  and  for  these  purposes  to 
employ  the  naval  and  military  forces  of  the  United  States,  and 
such  portions  of  the  militia  as  he  may  deem  advisable  to  call 
into  service." 

Mr.  Brockenbrough,  of  Florida,  followed  up  this  motion  by  a 
notice  of  an  amendment,  which  reads  thus : 

"  Whereas  war  has  been  declared  and  made  upon  the  United 
States  by  the  Republic  of  Mexico : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.       405 

of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
all  the  respective  countries,  governments,  citizens,  and  people  of 
the  United  States  and  Mexico  are  in  a  state  of  war,  and  their 
respective  rights  and  duties  with  regard  to  each  other,  and  all 
neutral  nations,  are  to  be  regulated  accordingly. 

"  Sec.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  President  of  the 
United  States  is  authorized  and  requested  to  retaliate  the  Mex 
ican  invasion,  and  to  take  possession  and  hold  as  much  of  the 
Mexican  territory  as  may  he  in  his  power,  until  peace  be  con 
cluded  ;  and  that  he  have  authority  to  accept  the  services  of 
any  number  of  volunteers  not  exceeding  fifty  thousand,"  &c. 

Mr.  Jacob  Thompson,  of  Mississippi,  gave  notice  of  the  fol 
lowing  amendment : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representative^ 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
war  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  declared  to  exist  between  the 
Republic  of  Mexico  and  the  United  States  of  America  and  their 
territories,  and  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  here 
by  authorized  to  use  the  whole  land  and  naval  force  of  the  United 
States  to  carry  the  same  into  effect." 

Mr.  Boyd,  of  Kentucky,  moved  to  strike  out  the  first  section 
of  the  bill,  and  insert  the  following : 

"  Whereas,  by  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  a  state  of 
war  exists  between  that  government  and  the  United  States : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That, 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  government  of  the  United  States 
to  prosecute  said  war  to  a  speedy  and  successful  termination, 
the  President  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  to  employ  the  mi 
litia,  naval  and  military  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to  call 
for  and  accept  the  services  of  any  number  of  volunteers  not  ex 
ceeding  fifty  thousand,  who  may  offer  their  services  either  as 
cavalry,  artillery,  infantry,  or  riflemen,  to  serve  twelve  months 
after  they  shall  have  arrived  at  the  place  of  rendezvous,  or  to 
the  end  of  the  war,  unless  sooner  discharged ;  and  that  the  sum 
of  ten  millions  of  dollars  out  of  any  moneys  in  the  treasury,  or 
to  come  into  the  treasury,  not  otherwise  appropriated,  be,  and 
the  same  is  hereby  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the 
provisions  of  this  act  into  effect." 

Mr.  Schenck,  of  Ohio,  sent  up  to  the  clerk's  table,  where  it 


406  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

was  read  in  part,  the  following  amendment,  which  he  gave  no 
tice  of  his  intention  to  offer  at  the  proper  time : 

"  Whereas  it  has  been  communicated  to  Congress  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  that  this  government  is  now  en 
gaged  in  a  war  with  Mexico,  and  a  call  has  been  made  on  Con 
gress  for  means  to  prosecute  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States;  and 

"Whereas  Congress  is  informed  that  in  a  war  thus  com 
menced,  losses  have  occurred  to  the  army  of  the  United  States 
employed  by  the  President  on  the  bank  of  the  River  del  Norte, 
and  that  such  army,  if  not  already  lost,  is  in  an  exposed  and 
perilous  situation,  and  requires  immediate  and  speedy  relief  and 
re-enforcement ;  therefore, 

"Be  it  enacted.  That  while  Congress  will  not  sanction  or 
approve  the  forcible  occupation,  under  the  orders  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  of  territory  between  the  Rivers  Nue- 
ces  and  Del  Norte,  by  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States, 
nor  of  any  hostilities  which  have  been  carried  on  by  order  of 
the  President  against  the  government  or  people  of  Mexico,  yet, 
to  enable  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  relieve  and  ex 
tricate  the  army  of  the  United  States  from  the  position  in  which 
it  has  been  involved,  and  to  prevent  any  invasion  or  encroach 
ments  upon  the  territory  of  this  Union,  and  to  protect  and  de 
fend,  to  the  fullest  extent,  the  citizens  and  people  of  the  United 
States,  as  far  as  the  same  may  be  in  any  way  affected  or  en 
dangered  by  hostilities  with  Mexico,  the  President  is  hereby 
authorized,  in  addition  to  all  the  present  military  and  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States,  to  call  for  and  accept  the  services 
of  any  number  of  volunteers  not  exceeding  fifty  thousand,  who 
may  offer  their  services,  either  as  cavalry,  artillery,  infantry,  or 
riflemen,  to  serve  six  months,  or  twelve  months,  or  two  years, 
as  the  President,  in  his  discretion,  may  think  best,  who  shall  be 
mustered  into  service,  and  armed  and  equipped  at  the  expense 
of  the  United  States.  Provided  only,  that  said  volunteers  shall 
furnish  their  own  clothes,  and,  if  cavalry,  their  own  horses. 

"  Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That,  for  the  same  pur 
poses,  the  President  is  authorized  to  call  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  and  to  employ  such  portions  of  the  militia  as  he 
may  think  necessary." 

[Sections  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  ten,  and 


ROBERT  CHARLES.  WINTHROP.       407 

eleven  of  the  bill  (one  or  two  of  them  slightly  modified)  fol 
low. 

Mr.  Roberts,  of  Mississippi,  moved  to  amend  the  first  section 
of  the  bill  by  adding  thereto  the  following : 

"  Whereas  a  state  of  war  exists  between  the  Republic  of 
Mexico  and  the  allies  thereof,  and  the  United  States  of  America 
and  their  territories : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
the  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby  authorized  to  use 
the  whole  land  and  naval  force  of  the  United  States  to  carry  the 
same  into  effect,  and  to  issue  to  private  armed  vessels  of  the 
United  States  commissions,  or  letters  of  marque  and  general 
reprisal,  in  such  form  as  he  shall  think  proper,  and  under  the 
seal  of  the  United  States,  against  the  vessels,  goods,  and  effects 
of  the  government  of  said  Republic  of  Mexico,  and  the  people 
and  allies  thereof." 

Mr.  Tibbatts,  of  Kentucky,  moved  an  amendment,  adding 
the  words,  "  and  to  cause  the  said  territory  to  be  invaded." 

Mr.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  moved  to  strike  out  certain  portions 
of  the  first  section,  so  as  to  make  it  read  as  follows : 

"  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  here* 
by  authorized  to  employ  the  naval  and  military  forces  of  the 
United  States,  and  such  portions  of  the  militia  as  he  may  deem 
advisable  to  call  into  service,  for  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war  now  existing  between  this  country  and  Mexico." 

Mr.  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  moved  to  amend  the 
sentence  in  the  fourth  line  by  adding,  "  for  the  vigorous  prose 
cution  of  hostilities  now  existing  between  this  country  and 
Mexico." 

Mr.  Thurman,  of  Ohio,  moved  to  amend  the  amendment  by 
striking  out  the  word  "  hostilities,"  and  inserting  "  war." 

Mr.  Elias  B.  Holmes,  of  New  York,  offered  the  following 
amendment : 

"  Provided,  That  the  provisions  of  this  (the  first)  section  do 
not,  nor  shall  they  be  deemed  to  apply  to  that  portion  of  the 
country  west  and  south  of  the  River  Nueces,  except  so  far  as  to 
withdraw,  and,  if  need  be,  to  rescue  our  army  from  the  region 
of  the  Rio  Grande." 

Mr.  Chipman,  of  Michigan,  offered  the  following  substitute 
amendment : 


408  HISTORY.  OF   CONGRESS. 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
whereas  the  existing  government  of  Mexico  has,  by  an  open  and 
avowed  act  of  hostility,  violated  American  soil,  and  wantonly 
and  unprovokedly  shed  the  blood  of  American  citizens,  therefore 
war  is  hereby  expressly  declared  by  this  government  against 
Mexico ;  and  the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  hereby 
is  authorized  to  employ  the  naval  and  military  forces  of  the  Unit 
ed  States,  and  such  portions  of  the  militia  as  he  may  deem  ad 
visable  to  call  into  service,  for  the  efficient  prosecution  of  such 
war." 

Mr.  E.  H.  Ewing,  of  Tennessee,  offered  the  following  amend 
ment  : 

"  Strike  out  all  after  the  word  '  that,'  in  the  second  line  of 
the  first  section,  down  to  the  word  'to,'  in  the  ninth  line,  and 
insert,  in  lieu  thereof,  the  following : 

"  In  consideration  of  the  relations  existing  between  this  gov 
ernment  and  the  government  of  Mexico,  and  in  consideration 
of  the  recent  collision  that  has  taken  place  between  the  armies 
of  Mexico  and  the  United  States  on  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte, 
the  President  of  the  United  States  be,  and  he  is  hereby  author 
ized,"  &c. 

Mr.  Brockenbrough,  of  Florida,  now  accepted  as  his  own,  and 
offered  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Jacob  Thompson-. 

Mr.  Delano,  of  Ohio,  offered  the  following  amendment  to  the 
eleventh  section : 

"  Provided,  That  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  considered 
as  approving  the  conduct  of  the  President  in  taking  armed  oc 
cupation  of  any  territory  lying  between  the  River  Nueces  and 
the  Rio  del  Norte,  and  claimed  by  Mexico  as  never  having  con 
stituted  part  of  the  province  of  Texas  during  the  time  that 
Texas  constituted  part  of  the  Mexican  Republic." 

None  of  these  amendments  were  agreed  to,  except  that  of 
Mr.  Boyd,  which  was  offered  as  a  substitute  for  the  first  section. 
Some  other  amendments,  not  of  an  essential  character,  were 
also  agreed  to,  and  the  bill,  with  the  amendments,  was  then 
reported  to  the  House.  The  previous  question  was  ordered, 
and  the  amendments,  with  two  exceptions,  were  concurred  in 
without  a  division. 

One  of  these  exceptions  was  the  preambular  amendment  of 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      409 

Mr.  Boyd.  The  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered,  and  the  question 
on  agreeing  to  that  amendment  was  taken,  with  the  following 
result  : 

Yeas:  Messrs.  Stephen  Adams,  Anderson,  Arnold,  Atkin 
son,  Baker,  Ball,  Benton,  Biggs,  James  Black,  James  A.  Black, 
Bowlin,  Boyd,  Brinckerhoff,  Brockenbrough,  Brodhead,  Mil 
ton  Brown,  William  G.  Brown,  John  H.  Campbell,  Cathcart, 
John  (3r.  Chapman,  Reuben  Chapman,  Chase,  Chipman,  Clarke, 
Cobb,  Cocke,  Collin,  Cullom,  Cummins,  Daniel,  Darragh,  Jef 
ferson  Davis,  De  Mott,  Dillingham,  Dobbin,  Douglas,  Drom- 
goole,  Edsall,  Ellsworth,  Erdman,  Faran,  Ficklin,  Fries,  Garvin, 
Gentry,  Goodyear,  Gordon,  Graham,  Grover,  Haralson,  Har- 
manson,  Henley,  Hoge,  Hopkins,  Hough,  George  S.  Houston, 
Hungerford,  James  B.  Hunt,  Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  Joseph  R.  In- 
gersoll,  Joseph  Johnson,  Andrew  Johnson,  George  W.  Jones, 
Kennedy,  Preston  King,  Leib,  La  Sere,  Levin,  Ligon,  Lump- 
kin,  Maclay,  M'Clean,  M'Clelland,  M'Clernand,  M'Connell, 
Joseph  J.  M'Dowell,  James  M'Dowell,  M'Kay,  John  P.  Mar 
tin,  Barclay  Martin,  Morris,  Morse,  Moulton,  Niven,  Norris, 
Owen,  Parish,  Payne,  Perrill,  Pettit,  Phelps,  Pollock,  Price, 
Ramsay,  Rathbun,  Reid,  Rolfe,  Ritter,  Roberts,  Sawtelle,  Saw 
yer,  Scamman,  Leonard  H.  Sims,  Thomas  Smith,  Robert  Smith, 
Stanton,  Starkweather,  St.  John,  Strong,  Thibodeaux,  Thom- 
asson,  Jacob  Thompson,  Thurman,  Tibbatts,  Towns,  Tredway, 
Trumbo,  Wentworth,  Wheaton,  Wick,  Woodruff,  Yell,  and 
Young— 123. 

Nays :  Messrs.  Abbott,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Ashmun,  Bar- 
ringer,  Bayly,  Bedinger,  Blanchard,  Buffington,  Burt,  William 
W.  Campbell,  Carroll,  Cranston,  Crozier,  Culver,  Garrett  Da 
vis,  Delano,  Dockery,  Dunlap,  John  H.  Ewing,  Edwin  H.  Ew- 
ing,  Foot,  Giddings,  Grider,  Grinnell,  Hamlin,  Hampton,  Har 
per,  Herrick,  Hilliard,  Elias  B.  Holmes,  Isaac  E.  Holmes,  John 
W.  Houston,,  Edmund  W.  Hubard,  Samuel  D.  Hubbard,  Hud 
son,  Hunter,  Daniel  P.  King,  Thomas  B.  King,  Lewis,  M'Gaugh- 
ey,  M'Henry,  M'llvaine,  Marsh,  Miller,  Moseley,  Pendleton, 
Rhett,  John  A.  Rockwell,  Root,  Schenck,  Seddon,  Severance, 
Alexander  D.  Sims,  Simpson,  Truman  Smith,  Albert  Smith, 
Stephens,  Stewart,  Strohm,  Benjamin  Thompson,  Tilden, 
Toombs,  Vance,  Vinton,  Winthrop,  Woodward,  and  Yancey — 
67. 


410  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

By  this  decision  the  preamble  of  Mr.  Boyd  became  a  part 
of  the  bill,  which  was  then  passed  by  the  following  vote : 

Yeas :  Messrs.  Abbott,  Stephen  Adams,  Anderson,  Arnold, 
Atkinson,  Baker,  Barringer,  Bayly,  Bedinger,  Bell,  Benton, 
Biggs,  James  Black,  James  A.  Black,  Blanchard,  Bowlin,  Boyd, 
Brinckerhoff,  Brockenbrough,  Brodhead,  Milton  Brown,  Will 
iam  G.  Brown,  Buffington,  Burt,  William  W.  Campbell,  John 
H.  Campbell,  Carroll,  Cathcart,  John  G.  Chapman,  Augustus  A. 
Chapman,  Reuben  Chapman,  Chase,  Chipman,  Clarke,  Cobb, 
Cocke,  Collin,  Crozier,  Cullom,  Cummins,  Daniel,  Dargan, 
Darragh,  Garrett  Davis,  Jefferson  Davis,  De  Mott,  Dillingham, 
Dobbin,  Dockery,  Douglas,  Dromgoole,  Dunlap,  Edsall,  Ells 
worth,  Erdman,  John  H.  Ewing,  Edwin  H.  Ewing,  Faran, 
Ficklin,  Foot,  Fries,  Garvin,  Gentry,  Goodyear,  Gordon,  Gra 
ham,  Grider,  Grover,  Hamlin,  Hampton,  Haralson,  Harman- 
son,  Harper,  Henley,  Herrick,  Hilliard,  Hoge,  Elias  B.  Holmes, 
Isaac  E.  Holmes,  Hopkins,  Hough,  John  W.  Houston,  G.  S. 
Houston,  E.  W.  Hubard,  Hungerford,  J.  B.  Hunt,  Hunter, 
Charles  J.  Ingersoll,  Joseph  R.  Ingersoll,  Joseph  Johnson,  An 
drew  Johnson,  George  W.  Jones,  Kennedy,  P.  King,  Thomas 
Butler  King,  Leib,  La  Sere,  Lewis,  Levin,  Ligon,  Lumpkin, 
Maclay,  M'Clean,  M'Clelland,  M'Clernand,  M'ConneU,  Joseph 
J.  M'Dowell,  James  M'Dowell,  M'Gaughey,  M'Henry,  M'Kay, 
Marsh,  John  P.  Martin,  Barclay  Martin,  Miller,  Morris,  Morse, 
Moseley,  Moulton,  Niven,  Norris,  Owen,  Parish,  Payne,  Pen- 
dleton,  Perrill,  Pettit,  Phelps,  Pollock,  Price,  Ramsey,  Rath- 
bun,  Reid,  Relfe,  Rhett,  Ritter,  Roberts,  John  A.  Rockwell, 
Sawtelle,  Sawyer,  Scammon,  Schenck,  Seddon,  Alexander  D. 
Sims,  Leonard  H.  Sims,  Simpson,  Truman  Smith,  Albert 
Smith,  Thomas  Smith,  Robert  Smith,  Stanton,  Starkweath 
er,  Stewart,  St.  John,  Strong,  Thibodeaux,  Thomasson,  Jacob 
Thompson,  Thurman,  Tibbatts,  Toombs,  Towns,  Tredway, 
Trumbo,  Vinton,  Wentworth,  Wheaton,  Wick,  Winthrop, 
Woodruff,  Woodward,  Yancey,  Yell,  and  Young — 174. 

Nays :  Messrs.  John  Q.  Adams,  Ashmun,  Cranston,  Culver, 
Delano,  Giddings,  Grinnell,  Hudson,  D.  P.  King,  Root,  Sever 
ance,  Strohm,  Tilden,  and  Vance — 14. 

We  need  not  advert  to  the  many  bitter  controversies  of  which 
this  preamble  has  been  the  fruitful  parent.  Those  who  believ 
ed  the  declaration  which  it  contained  to  be  false — and  it  is 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      411 

known  to  the  country  that  there  were  many  such — voted  against 
it.  The  vote  which  we  have  recorded  so  engrafted  it  upon  the 
bill  itself  as  to  place  it  beyond  all  further  control,  and  there 
was  no  alternative,  therefore,  but  to  vote  against  the  whole 
bill,  and  so  to  refuse  supplies,  or  to  appear  to  do  that  which 
the  sixty-seven  members  whose  names  are  recorded  in  the  neg 
ative  never  did,  to  wit,  vote  in  favor  of  the  preamble.  This  is 
the  historical  truth  of  a  matter  which,  in  every  section  of  the 
Union,  has  been  greatly  misunderstood. 

Speaking  of  the  vote  he  then  gave,  Mr.  "Winthrop,  on  the 
25th  of  June,  1846,  said  : 

"  I  need  not  say  that  I  deeply  deplore  the  occurrence  of  the 
war  in  which  the  country  is  involved.  I  have  had  neither  part 
nor  lot  in  the  policy  which  has  occasioned  it,  but  have  opposed 
that  policy  from  beginning  to  end  to  the  best  of  my  ability.  I 
voted  for  the  bill  recognizing  the  existence  of  the  war,  and  au 
thorizing  the  employment  of  men  and  money  for  its  prosecution, 
with  unfeigned  reluctance  and  pain.  The  day  can  never  be  when 
I  can  vote,  without  reluctance  and  without  pain,  for  any  bill, 
under  any  circumstances,  which  looks  to  an  issue  of  battle  and 
of  blood.  I  feel  deeply  that  such  conflicts  are  unbecoming  civ 
ilized  and  Christian  men.  Not  even  the  brilliant  exploits  of 
our  troops  at  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  though  they 
may  fill  me  with  admiration  for  the  bravery  of  those  who  achiev 
ed  them,  can  dazzle  me  for  an  instant  into  the  delusion  that  such 
scenes  are  worthy  of  the  age  in  which  we  live. 

"  There  was  phraseology,  too,  in  the  bill  which  I  would  glad 
ly  have  stricken  out.  Indeed,  the  question  was  one  on  which 
it  was  impossible  to  give  an  altogether  satisfactory  vote,  and 
I  have  nothing  but  respect  for  the  motives,  and  sympathy  in 
the  general  views  of  those  who  differed  from  me  on  the  occa 
sion. 

"  But  I  believed  when  that  bill  was  before  us,  and  I  believe 
still,  that  the  policy  of  the  administration  had  already  involved 
us  in  a  state  of  things  which  could  not  be  made  better,  which 
could  not  be  either  remedied  or  relieved  by  withholding  sup 
plies  or  disguising  its  real  character.  And  I  will  say  further, 
that  while  I  condemned  that  policy  as  heartily  as  any  of  my 
friends — while  I  condemned  both  the  policy  of  annexation  as  a 
whole,  and  the  movement  of  our  army  from  Corpus  Christi  as 


412  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

a  most  unnecessary  and  unwarrantable  part— I  was  not  one  of 
those  who  considered  Mexico  as  entirely  without  fault." 

On  the  22d  of  February,  1847,  when  the  bill  making  appro 
priations  for  the  support  of  the  army  and  volunteers  was  under 
consideration,  Mr.  Winthrop  offered  the  following  provisoes : 

"Provided,  That  no  more  than  a  proportionate  amount  of 
the  money  appropriated  by  the  two  first  sections  of  this  bill 
shall  be  expended  during  any  one  quarter  of  the  year  for  which 
said  appropriations  were  made. 

"Provided  also,  That  so  much  of  the  said  appropriations  as 
shall  be  unexpended  at  the  next  meeting  of  Congress,  shall  be 
subject  to  reconsideration  and  revocation. 

"  Provided  further,  That  these  appropriations  are  made  with 
no  view  of  sanctioning  any  prosecution  of  the  existing  war  with 
Mexico  for  the  acquisition  of  territory  to  form  new  states  to  be 
added  to  the  Union,  or  for  the  dismemberment  in  any  way  of 
the  Republic  of  Mexico." 

This  last  proviso  was  adopted  in  Committee  of  the  "Whole  on 
the  State  of  the  Union,  but  was  rejected  in  the  House  by  a 
vote  of  yeas  76,  nays  126,  the  entire  body  of  the  Whig  party 
uniting  with  Mr.  Winthrop  in  the  declaration  it  contained. 

The  rule  of  future  action  which  Mr.  Winthrop  has  prescrib 
ed  for  himself  in  regard  to  the  war,  seems  to  be  laid  down  in  a 
speech  delivered  by  him  on  the  22d  of  February,  1847,  in  sup 
port  of  these  provisoes.  He  says : 

"  I  have  intimated,  on  another  occasion,  that  I  do  not  go  so 
far  as  some  others  of  my  friends  in  regard  to  the  propriety  or 
expediency  of  withholding  all  supplies  from  the  executive. 
While  a  foreign  nation  is  still  in  arms  against  us,  I  would  limit 
the  supplies  to  some  reasonable  scale  of  defense  rather  than 
withhold  them  altogether.  I  would  pay  for  all  services  of  reg 
ulars  or  volunteers  already  contracted  for.  I  would  provide 
ample  means  to  prevent  our  army  from  suffering,  whether  from 
the  foe  or  from  famine,  as  long  as  they  are  in  the  field  under 
constitutional  authority.  Heaven  forbid  that  our  gallant  troops 
should  be  left  to  perish  for  want  of  supplies  because  they  are 
on  a  foreign  soil,  while  they  are  liable  to  be  shot  down  by 
the  command  of  their  own  officers  if  they  refuse  to  remain 
there." 

He  voted  in  favor  of  the  Three  Millions  Bill,  and  his  opin- 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.  413 

ions ,  on  the  general  subject  connected  with  that  measure  we 
find  well  expressed  in  a  speech  delivered  in  Faneuil  Hall : 

"  This,  this  is  the  matter,  gentlemen,  in  which  we  take  the  deepest  concern 
this  day.  Where,  when,  ^s  this  war  to  end,  and  what  are  to  be  its  fruits  ?  Un 
questionably  we  are  not  to  forget  that  it  takes  two  to  make  a  bargain.  Unques 
tionably  we  are  not  to  forget  that  Mexico  must  be  willing  to  negotiate  before 
our  own  government  can  be  held  wholly  responsible  for  the  failure  of  a  treaty  of 
peace.  I  rejoice,  for  one,  that  the  administration  have  shown  what  little  readi 
ness  they  have  shown  for  bringing  the  war  to  a  conclusion.  I  have  given  them 
credit  elsewhere  for  their  original  overtures  last  autumn,  and  I  shall  not  deny 
them  whatever  credit  they  deserve  for  their  renewed  overtures  now.  But,  Mr. 
President,  it  is  not  every  thing  which  takes  the  name  or  the  form  of  an  overture 
of  peace  which  is  entitled  to  respect  as  such.  If  it  proposes  unjust  and  unreason 
able  terms ;  if  it  manifests  an  overbearing  and  oppressive  spirit ;  if  it  presumes  on 
the  power  of  those  who  make  it,  or  on  the  weakness  of  those  to  whom  it  is  offer 
ed,  to  exact  hard  and  heartless  conditions ;  if,  especially,  it  be  of  a  character  at 
once  offensive  and  injurious  to  the  rights  of  one  of  the  nations  concerned,  and  to 
the  principles  of  a  large  majority  of  the  other,  then  it  prostitutes  the  name  of 
peace,  and  its  authors  are  only  entitled  to  the  contempt  which  belongs  to  those 
who  add  hypocrisy  to  injustice. 

"  Mr.  President,  when  the  President  of  the  United  States,  on  a  sudden  and  seri 
ous  emergency,  demanded  of  Congress  the  means  of  meeting  a  war  into  which 
he  had  already  plunged  the  country,  he  pledged  himself,  in  thrice  repeated  terms, 
to  be  ready  at  all  times  to  settle  the  existing  disputes  between  us  and  Mexico, 
whenever  Mexico  should  be  willing  either  to  make  or  to  receive  propositions  to 
that  end.  To  that  pledge  he  stands  solemnly  recorded  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
of  men.  Now,  sir,  it  was  no  part  of  our  existing  disputes  at  that  time  whether 
we  should  have  possession  of  California,  or  of  any  other  territory  beyond  the  Rio 
Grande.  And  the  President,  in  prosecuting  plans  of  invasion  and  conquest  which 
look  to  the  permanent  acquisition  of  any  such  territories,  will  be  as  false  to  his 
own  pledges  as  he  is  to  the  honor  and  interests  of  his  country. 

"  I  believe  that  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  the  whole  people  of  Massachusetts — 
I  know  I  speak  my  own,  in  saying  that  we  want  no  more  territorial  possessions 
to  become  the  nurseries  of  new  slave  states.  It  goes  hard  enough  with  us  that 
the  men  and  money  of  the  nation  should  be  employed  for  the  defense  of  such 
acquisitions  already  made;  but  to  originate  new  enterprises  for  extending  the 
area  of  slavery  by  force  of  arms,  is  revolting  to  the  moral  sense  of  every  Ameri 
can  freeman. 

"  Sir,  I  trust  there  is  no  man  here  who  is  not  ready  to  stand  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  country.  I  trust  there  is  no  man  here  who  is  not  willing  to  hold  fast  to  the 
union  of  the  states,  be  its  limits  ultimately  fixed  a  little  on  one  side  or  a  little  on 
the  other  side  of  the  line  of  his  own  choice.  For  myself,  I  will  not  contemplate 
the  idea  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  in  any  conceivable  event.  There  are  no 
boundaries  of  sea  or  land,  of  rock  or  river,  of  desert  or  mountain,  to  which  I  will 
not  try,  at  least,  to  carry  out  my  love  of  country,  whenever  they  shall  really  be 
the  boundaries  of  my  country.  If  the  day  of  dissolution  ever  comes,  it  shall  bring 
the  evidence  of  its  own  irresistible  necessity  with  it.  I  avert  my  eyes  from  all 
recognition  of  such  a  necessity  in  the  distance.  Nor  am  I  ready  for  any  political 
organizations  or  platforms  less  broad  and  comprehensive  than  those  which  may 
include  and  uphold  the  whole  Whig  party  of  the  United  States.  But  all  this  is 
consistent,  and  shall,  in  my  own  case,  practically  consist  with  a  just  sense  of  the 
evils  of  slavery ;  with  an  earnest  opposition  to  every  thing  designed  to  prolong  or 


414  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

extend  it ;  with  a  firm  resistance  to  all  its  encroachments  on  Northern  rights ;  and 
above  all,  with  an  uncompromising  hostility  to  all  measures  for  introducing  new 
slave  states  and  new  slave  territories  into  our  Union." 

Not  inappropriate  here  will  be  the  following  extract  from  the 
proceedings  of  the  House  of  December  the  21st,  1847  : 

"  Mr.  Jones,  of  Georgia,  said :  '  By  whom  had  this  war  been 
represented  as  unjust  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  ?  But 
by  "  few."  Yet  the  opinions  and  denunciations  of  these  per- 
sons  had  been  extensively  circulated,  not  only  in  the  United 
States,  but  in  Mexico.  And  who  were  they  ?  The  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts  had  thought  proper  to  rank  himself  among 
them  ;  he  had  placed  himself  in  that  unfortunate  category.' 

"  Mr.  Winthrop.  '  Does  the  honorable  gentleman  mean  to  as 
sert  that  I  placed  myself  there  ?' 

"  Mr.  Jones.  '  I  understood  him  to  place  himself  in  that  cat 
egory,  and  that  he  had  declared  his  right  and  that  of  all  free 
men  to  express  their  opinions.' 

"  Mr.  Winthrop.  i  Does  he  declare,  in  the  face  of  this  House, 
that  he  understood  me  to  place  myself  in  the  predicament  of 
attempting  to  circulate  in  Mexico — that's  his  accusation— dec 
larations  of  the  injustice  and  impropriety  of  the  war  ?' 

"  Mr.  Jones.  '  I  did  not  single  out  that  part  of  the — ' 

"  Mr.  Winthrop.  '  The  honorable  gentleman  stated  that  ex 
plicitly.  It  is  utterly  unfounded — without  the  shadow  of  truth.' 

"  Mr.  Jones.  '  I  will  tell  the  gentleman,  if  he  will  allow  me, 
what  I  understood  him  to  say,  and  he  can  not  deny  it  with  a 
shadow  of  truth.  He  characterized  the  portion  of  the  message 
which  I  have  read  as  an  attempt,  on  the  part  of  the  President, 
to  suppress  discussion,  and  declared  that,  as  a  freeman,  he 
should  discuss  freely  the  acts  of  the  President.  He  spoke  of 
the  rights  of  freemen,  and  those  which  had  descended  from  our 
Revolutionary  fathers.  Where  then  did  he  place  himself? 

"'I  presume  that  the  honorable  gentleman  has  not  taken 
the  pains  to  send  his  speeches  to  Mexico,  although  he  may 
have  had  them  circulated  throughout  the  United  States.  But 
that  is  not  the  charge.  The  charge  is  that  of  assailing  the  ad 
ministration  as  having  brought  on  an  unjust  war — a  war  ag 
gressive  in  its  character — a  war  on  an  injured  enemy.  Does 
the  gentleman  deny  that  he  has  assailed  this  war  as  unjust  ? 
Does  he  deny  that  he  has  characterized  it  as  aggressive  ?  Does 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      415 

he  deny  that  he  has  called  it  the  President's  war,  and  not  the 
war  of  the  country  ?  He  has  not  only  by  these  declarations, 
but  by  the  whole  course  and  tenor  of  his  argument,  placed  him 
self  in  the  unfortunate  category  of  extending  "  aid  and  com 
fort"  to  the  enemy.' 

"  Mr.  Winthrop.  l  Will  the  gentleman  allow  me  a  single 
word  ?' 

"  Mr.  Jones.  <  Certainly.' 

"  Mr.  Winthrop.  t  The  honorable  member  may  impute  to  me 
whatever  opinions  he  sees  fit.  I  do  not  say  that  I  do  not  think 
this  war  an  unjust  war  ;  that  I  do  not  think  this  war  to  be  an 
aggressive  war ;  that  I  do  not  think  this  war  to  be  a  President's 
war,  and  not  a  war  of  the  country ;  that  I  do  not  feel  all  the 
sentiments  of  abhorrence  of  this  war  which  the  President  has 
imputed  to  the  "  few,"  but  whom  I  choose  to  call  the  "  many," 
as  I  believe  they  are,  throughout  this  nation.  But  it  does  so 
happen — and  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Georgia  should 
have  known  the  circumstances  of  the  case  before  he  assailed 
me — it  does  so  happen,  and  it  has  been  notorious  to  the  whole 
country,  that  the  charges  in  my  own  district,  during  the  elec 
tion  which  recently  terminated  in  my  re-election,  have  been, 
that  I  have  refrained  from  denouncing  this  war ;  that  I  have 
refrained  from  expressing  opinions  which  the  honorable  gentle 
man  has  now  imputed  to  me ;  that  I  have  not  manifested  the 
spirit  exhibited  in  many  other  parts  of  my  own  commonwealth, 
and  in  many  other  parts  of  the  country,  quite  so  resolutely  and 
uncompromisingly  as  my  constituents  could  have  desired ;  and 
although  there  may  have  been  some  parenthetical  passages  in 
my  speech  on  the  tariff,  and  other  speeches,  which  the  honor 
able  member  may  see  fit  to  charge  as  substantiating  his  posi 
tion,  yet  he  will  be  obliged  to  resort  to  a  microscope — to  all  the 
glasses  and  aids  which  philosophy  or  science  will  put  within 
his  reach,  in  order  to  discover  those  passages  in  any  speech  of 
mine  which  will  give  color  even  to  the  assertions  which  he  has 
now  made.  Sir,  I  am  the  last  member  in  this  House  on  the 
Whig  side  who  has  subjected  himself  to  the  imputation  which 
the  President  has  seen  fit  to  put  forth  ;  but,  because  I  may  not 
have  done  it  heretofore,  let  me  not  be  misunderstood — let  me 
not  be  regarded  as  entertaining  a  different  opinion  from  those 
who  have  done  it  to  their  hearts'  content,  and  whom  the  Pres- 


416  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

ident  has  seen  fit  to  charge  in  this  utterly  unjustifiable  and  ar 
bitrary  manner.' " 

In  making  these  various  extracts,  our  object  has  been  that 
Mr.  Winthrop  should  speak  for  himself.  We  are  neither  ~  his 
vindicators  nor  apologists.  Nor  does  he  stand  in  need  of  any 
feeble  support  which  we  can  give  him.  Dissenting  from  some 
of  his  views,  we  still  believe  it  would  be  a  bright  augury  for 
the  future  destiny  and  the  true  glory  of  our  common  coun 
try —  at  the  contemplation  of  whose  prospective  grandeur  the 
vision  almost  aches — if  our  national  councils  contained  a  great 
er  number  of  statesmen  such  as  he  is.  He  has  witnessed  and 
deplored  the  workings  of  that  spirit  of  aggrandizement  which, 
but  recently,  to  use  an  expression  of  his  own,  "  was  seen  leap 
ing  over  the  Sabine  in  one  quarter,  and  dashing  itself  upon  the 
Rocky  Mountains  in  another  !"  Looking  to  the  habitual  temper 
of  our  people,  we  can  conceive  of  no  higher  exhibition  of  mor 
al  resolution  in  a  representative  than  to  raise  his  voice,  amid  a 
seeming  clamor  for  war,  in  fervent  invocations  to  Peace.  We 
believe  that  the  odium  which  attached  to  the  opponents  of  the 
war  of  1812,  where  principles  were  at  issue  that  ought  to  have 
an  abiding-place  in  the  heart  of  every  man  worthy  to  be  free, 
has  affrighted  from  the  exercise  of  their  most  honest  judgments 
many  of  the  public  men  of  our  day.  The  genius  of  our  people, 
and  especially  of  that  portion  which  occupies  the  states  com 
posing  our  vast  Western  empire,  is  eminently  warlike.  Impa 
tient  of  control,  desirous  of  change,  hankering  after  events, 
fond  of  excitement  and  adventure,  they  constitute  material  for 
military  purposes  not  surpassed  by  any  nation  upon  earth.  The 
mild  and  beneficent  spirit  of  our  institutions,  breathing  forth 
from  the  sacred  charter  of  our  liberties,  has  hitherto  kept  this 
aspiring  genius  in  check.  But  once  give  it  rein- — hold  up  to 
the  admiring  gaze  of  a  young  and  chivalrous  generation,  as  the 
worthier  objects  of  its  ambition,  the  trophies  of  conquest  and 
the  triumphs  of  arms,  and  who  shall  set  bounds  to  our  career 
of  injustice,  aggression,  and  rapacity  ?  The  past  is  full  of  sol 
emn  admonition.  The  magnificent  domain  on  which  we  live 
is  already  felt,  like  a  kingdom  to  the  spirit  of  Percy,  "  too  small 
a  bound."  The  "  manifest  destiny"  which,  during  the  brief 
but  troubled  day  of  the  54°  40'  dream,  was  impiously  leading 
us  no  man  knew  whither,  is  not  dead:  it  sleepeth  only.  At 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.       417 

that  time,  nothing  short  of  a  country,  "  ocean-bound,"  would 
contain  us.  The  flag  that  "  flouts  the  sky"  on  the  dome  of  the 
Capitol  was  but  one  of  those  emblems  of  overshadowing  pow 
er  whose  folds  were  to  be  given  to  the  breeze  alike  on  the  sum 
mit  of  Cape  Horn  and  at  the  extremity  of  Behring's  Straits, 
where  our  eagles  might  perch,  ready  for  a  bolder  and  still  loft 
ier  flight.  Let  us  take  warning  ere  it  is  too  late.  If  the  les 
sons  of  history  can  ever  avail  aught  in  shaping  the  destinies  of 
nations,  let  them  not  be  lost  upon  us.  Let  us  see  the  future 
in  the  past,  and  "  gather  precious  political  truths  amid  the 
ruins  of  empires." 

This  memoir  was  prepared  so  far  back  as  the  month  of  Au 
gust  last.  Mr.  Clay,  in  the  speech  delivered  by  him  at  Lex 
ington  on  the  13th  of  the  following  November,  speculates,  with 
much  more  ability  than  we  can  command,  upon  the  effect  pro 
duced  at  this  day  by  the  consequences  visited  upon  those  who 
arrayed  themselves  against  the  war  of  1812.  He  says : 

"  The  exceptionable  conduct  of  the  Federal  party  during 
the  last  British  war  has  exerted  an  influence  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  present  war,  and  prevented  the  just  discrimination 
between  the  two  wars.  That  was  a  war  of  national  defense, 
required  for  the  vindication  of  the  national  rights  and  honor, 
and  demanded  by  the  indignant  voice  of  the  people.  President 
Madison  himself,  I  know,  at  first  reluctantly,  and  with  great 
doubt  and  hesitation,  brought  himself  to  the  conviction  that  it 
ought  to  be  declared.  A  leading,  and,  perhaps,  the  most  influ 
ential  member  of  his  cabinet  (Mr.  Gallatin),  was,  up  to  the 
time  of  its  declaration,  opposed  to  it.  But  nothing  could  with 
stand  the  irresistible  force  of  public  sentiment.  It  was  a  just 
war,  and  its  great  object,  as  announced  at  the  time,  was  '  Free 
Trade  and  Sailors'  Rights,'  against  the  intolerable  and  oppress 
ive  acts  of  British  power  on  the  ocean.  The  justice  of  the  war, 
far  from  being  denied  or  controverted,  was  admitted  by  the  Fed 
eral  party,  which  only  questioned  it  on  considerations  of  policy. 
Being  deliberately  and  constitutionally  declared,  it  was,  I  think, 
their  duty  to  have  given  it  their  hearty  co-operation.  But  the 
mass  of  them  did  not.  They  continued  to  oppose  and  thwart 
it,  to  discourage  loans  and  enlistments,  to  deny  the  power  of 
the  general  government  to  march  the  militia  beyond  our  limits, 
and  to  hold  a  Hartford  Convention,  which,  whatever  were  its 

VOL.  I.— D  D 


418  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

real  objects,  bore  the  aspect  of  seeking  a  dissolution  of  the  Un 
ion  itself.  They  lost,  and  justly  lost,  the  public  confidence. 
But  has  not  an  apprehension  of  a  similar  fate,  in  a  state  of  a 
case  widely  different,  repressed  a  fearless  expression  of  their 
real  sentiments  in  some  of  our  public  men  ?" 

During  his  service  in  Congress,  Mr.  Winthrop  has  been  a 
member  of  three  of  the  most  important  standing  committees 
of  the  House :  on  Commerce,  on  Foreign  Affairs,  and,  more 
lately,  of  Ways  and  Means. 

As  the  representative  of  the  commercial  city  whose  interests 
are  more  especially  in  his  keeping,  he  merits  all  the  praise  that 
can  be  awarded  to  him.  His  unceasing  efforts  to  preserve  that 
protective  policy  with  which  the  business  pursuits  of  his  state 
are  so  closely  linked,  are  familiar  to  all. 

With  respect  to  the  disputed  matter  of  the  naturalization 
laws,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  he  has  favored  such  a  revision  of 
them  as  he  believed  necessary  to  correct  existing  abuses,  and  to 
maintain  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box. 

As  the  patron  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  of  great  national  en 
terprises,  and  of  all  works  connected  with  the  history  of  the 
country,  no  member  has  been  more  conspicuous.  The  policy 
of  internal  improvement  by  the  general  government  he  has  at 
all  times  sustained,  as  a  cause  which  ought  to  rally  to  its  sup 
port  every  real  friend  of  the  republic  [see  title,  ROBERT  M'CLEL- 
LAND],  Nor  must  we  fail  to  notice  the  constancy  with  which 
he  has  voted  to  give  to  those  private  claimants,  who  so  often  ap 
peal  in  vain  to  the  justice  of  the  nation,  the  benefit  of  the  time 
which  the  rules  of  the  House  have  set  apart  for  the  considera 
tion  of  their  business,  and  of  his  countenance  and  support,  where 
their  claims  were  of  legitimate  and  proper  obligation.  We 
have  referred  to  the  general  subject  of  the  private  calendar  in 
another  place. 

His  literary  accomplishments  have  been  indicated  by  numer 
ous  addresses  and  orations  delivered  upon  various  occasions,  all 
of  them  of  a  high  degree  of  excellence.  Among  them  we  should 
notice,  as  possessing  peculiar  merit,  an  address  before  the  Mer 
cantile  Library  Association  of  Boston  upon  the  achievements 
and  influence  of  Commerce,  and  an  oration  before  the  New  En 
gland  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York,  at  their  annual  celebra 
tion  in  1839.  The  committee  of  the  society,  in  requesting  a 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      419 

copy  of  the  latter  for  the  press,  speak  of  it  as  an  address  "  which, 
in  the  principles  it  recommends,  and  the  historic  research  and 
statesmanlike  views  it  disclosed,  was  so  entirely  worthy  of  the 
family  name  you  bear,  and  one  which,  in  the  eloquence  and 
power  with  which  it  took  possession  of  the  mind  of  the  hearer, 
gave  full  proof  that  the  city  of  Boston,  in  its  public  speakers 
and  leading  minds,  had  not  fallen  away  from  the  town  of  Bos 
ton  of  earlier  days  and  dearer  associations." 

He  availed  himself  of  the  late  long  recess  to  visit  England, 
France,  and  other  parts  of  Europe.  Shortly  after  his  depart 
ure  for  England,  Edward  Everett,  writing  to  a  friend  in  Mas* 
sachusetts,  says  of  Mr.  Winthrop,  "  A  better  specimen  of  Amer 
ica  never  crossed  the  water  ;"  and  the  tenor  of  all  notices  from 
England  gives  us  the  impression  that  this  remark  has  been 
fully  justified  by  his  reception  in  that  country,  as  indicating 
the  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by  the  leading  men  of  the 
father-land. 

That  all  he  has  seen  in  other  countries  has  but  served  to  con 
firm  and  rivet  his  affection  for  his  own,  we  feel  well  assured. 
On  the  4th  of  July  last,  writing  from  the  top  of  the  Righi,  in 
Switzerland,  to  a  friend  in  New  England,  who  permitted  us  to 
make  an  extract  from  the  letter,  he  says :  "  It  is  no  infelicitous 
coincidence  that  an  American  should  be  upon  this  interesting 
spot  on  this  anniversary  of  his  country's  independence.  Last 
night  I  slept  on  the  borders  of  the  Lake  of  Lucerne.  This  morn 
ing  I  passed  by  the  chapel  of  William,  Tell  and  the  three  fount 
ains  of  Griitli,  where  the  first  confederation  in  favor  of  Swiss 
liberty  was  concerted,  and  from  thence  came  up  to  this  pinna 
cle  of  mountain  liberty ;  and  here  we  are  admiring  other  coun 
tries,  but  remembering  our  own,  and  wishing  that  the  three 
hundred  miles'  circumference  over  which  our  eyes  extend  could 
be  stretched  to  three  thousand,  so  that  we  could  see  the  land 
we  are  sighing  after,  and  the  friends  who  make  it  so  dear. 
Never  have  I  felt  a  stronger  yearning  after  my  own  country 
than  at  this  moment.  God  bless  her  forever !  There  is  no 
land  like  her.  We  may  see  here  and  there  a  richer  cultivation 
— here  and  there  a  more  splendid  ceremonial — here  and  there  a 
more  magnificent  mountain  or  lake ;  but  we  can  find  nowhere 
else  a  people,  a  whole  people,  so  comfortably  conditioned,  so  in 
telligent,  so  educated,  so  free." 


420  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

This  surely  is  not  the  language  of  a  man  in  whose  bosom 
beats  a  heart  insensible  to  the  claims  of  patriotism,  or  of  one 
who,  in  conforming  to  the  customs  of  other  countries  while  so 
journing  in  them,  is  wanting  in  loyalty  to  his  own. 

It  is  well  known  that  at  the  Convention  held  in  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  in  September  last,  a  resolution  was  introduced 
by  Mr.  Palfrey,  now  a  member  of  the  House,  declaring  "that 
.  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  will  support  no  man  for  the  office 
of  President  and  Vice  President  but  such  as  are  known  by 
their  acts  or  declared  opinions  to  be  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery."  Mr.  Winthrop  opposed  this  resolution,  and  prevent 
ed  its  adoption,  avowing  his  determination  to  support  a  slave 
holder  for  the  Presidency,  should  he  be  the  candidate  of  the 
Whig  party. 

He  is  now  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States,  chosen  at  a  time  when  the  two  great  parties  in 
that  body  were  nearly  equally  divided.  The  accompanying  cor 
respondence,  which  preceded  his  election,  and  looked  to  the  im 
position  of  conditions  which  should  secure  it,  speaks  its  own 
commentary : 

"  Copy  of  a  letter  from  Hon.  John  G.  Palfrey  to  Hon.  R.  C. 
Winthrop,  dated 

"56  COLEMAN'S,  WASHINGTON,  December  5,  1847. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — It  would  give  me  pleasure  to  aid  by  my  vote  in 
placing  you  in  the  chair, of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  but 
I  have  no  personal  hopes  or  fears  to  dictate  my  course  in  the 
matter,  and  the  great  consideration  for  me  must  be  that  of 
the  policy  which  the  speaker  will  impress  on  the  action  of  the 
House. 

"  Not  to  trouble  you  with  suggestions  as  to  subordinate  points, 
there  are  some  leading  questions  on  which  it  may  be  presumed 
that  you  have  a  settled  purpose.  May  I  respectfully  inquire 
whether,  if  elected  speaker,  it  is  your  intention 

"  So  to  constitute  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Relations  and 
of  Ways  and  Means  as  to  arrest  the  existing  war  ? 

"  So  to  constitute  the  Committee  on  the  Territories  as  to  ob 
struct  the  legal  establishment  of  slavery  within  any  territory  ? 

"  So  to  constitute  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  as  to  fa 
vor  the  repeal  of  the  law  of  February  12,  1793,  which  denies 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.       421 

trial  by  jury  to  persons  charged  with  being  slaves ;  to  give  a 
fair  and  favorable  consideration  to  the  question  of  the  repeal  of 
those  acts  of  Congress  which  now  sustain  slavery  in  this  dis 
trict,  and  to  further  such  measures  as  may  be  in  the  power  of 
Congress  to  remedy  the  grievances  of  which  Massachusetts 
complains  at  the  hands  of  South  Carolina,  in  respect  to  ill 
treatment  of  her  citizens. 

"  I  should  feel  much  obliged  to  you  for  a  reply  at  your  early 
convenience,  and  I  should  be  happy  to  be  permitted  to  commu 
nicate  it,  or  its  substance,  to  some  gentlemen  who  entertain 
similar  views  to  mine  on  this  class  of  questions. 

"'I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  personal  esteem,  your  friend  and 
servant,  "  JOHN  G.  PALFREY." 

"Mr.  Winthrop  to  Mr.  Palfrey. 

"WASHINGTON,  COLEMAN'S  HOTEL,  December  5,  1847. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — Your  letter  of  to-day  has  this  moment  been 
handed  to  me. 

"  I  am  greatly  obliged  by  the  disposition  you  express  <  to  aid  in 
placing  me  in  the  chair  of  the  House  of  Representatives.'  But 
I  must  be  perfectly  candid  in  saying  to  you  that,  if  I  am  to  oc 
cupy  that  chair,  I  must  go  into  it  without  pledges  of  any  sort. 

"I  have  not  sought  the  place.  I  have  solicited  no  man's 
vote.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Whig  members  of  the  House,  last 
evening  (at  which,  however,  I  believe  that  you  were  not  pres 
ent),  I  was  formally  nominated  as  the  Whig  candidate  for  speak 
er,  and  I  have  accepted  the  nomination. 

"But  I  have  uniformly  said  to  all  who  have  inquired  of  me, 
that  my  policy  in  organizing  the  House  must  be  sought  for  in 
my  general  conduct  and  character  as  a  public  man. 

"  I  have  been  for  seven  years  a  member  of  Congress  from  our 
common  state  of  Massachusetts.  My  votes  are  on  record.  My 
speeches  are  in  print.  If  they  have  not  been  such  as  to  inspire 
confidence  in  my  course,  nothing  that  I  could  get  up  for  the 
occasion,  in  the  shape  of  pledges  or  declarations  of  purpose, 
ought  to  do  so. 

"  Still  less  could  I  feel  it  consistent  with  my  own  honor,  after 
having  received  and  accepted  a  general  nomination,  and  just  on 
the  eve  of  the  election,  to  frame  answers  to  specific  questions 
like  those  which  you  have  proposed,  to  be  shown  to  a  few  gen- 


422  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

tlemen,  as  you  suggest,  and  to  be  withheld  from  the  great  body 
of  the  Whigs. 

"  eply,  therefore,  as  I  should  regret  to  lose  the  distinction 
which  the  Whigs  in  Congress  have  offered  to  me,  and  through 
me  to  New  England,  for  the  want  of  the  aid  of  a  Massachu 
setts  vote,  I  must  yet  respectfully  decline  any  more  direct  re 
ply  to  the  interrogatories  which  your  letter  contains. 

"I  remain,  with  every  sentiment  of  personal  esteem,  your 
friend  and  servant,  "  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP." 

"Hon.  J.  G.  PALFREY,  &c.,  &c." 

On  taking  the  speaker's  chair,  to  which  he  was  conducted  by 
Mr.  M'Kay,  of  North  Carolina,  and  Mr.  Vinton,  of  Ohio,  Mr. 
Winthrop  thus  addressed  the  House  : 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Unit 
ed  States: 

"  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  honor  which  you  have  conferred 
upon  me  by  the  vote  which  has  just  been  announced,  and  I  pray 
leave  to  express  my  most  grateful  acknowledgments  to  those 
who  have  thought  me  worthy  of  so  distinguished  a  mark  of  their 
confidence. 

"  When  I  remember  by  whom  this  chair  has  been  filled  in 
other  years,  and,  still  more,  when  I  reflect  on  the  constitutional 
character  of  the  body  before  me,  I  can  not  but  feel  that  you  have 
assigned  me  a  position  worthy  of  any  man's  ambition,  and  far 
above  the  rightful  reach  of  my  own. 

"  I  approach  the  discharge  of  its  duties  with  a  profound  im 
pression  at  once  of  their  dignity  and  of  their  difficulty. 

"  Seven  years  of  service  as  a  member  of  this  branch  of  the 
national  Legislature  have  more  than  sufficed  to  teach  me  that 
this  is  no  place  of  mere  formal  routine  or  ceremonious  repose. 
Severe  labors,  perplexing  cares,  trying  responsibilities,  await 
any  one  who  is  called  to  it,  even  under  the  most  auspicious  and 
favorable  circumstances.  How,  then,  can  I  help  trembling  at 
the  task  which  you  have  imposed  on  me  in  the  existing  condi 
tion  of  this  House  and  of  the  country  ? 

"  In  a  time  of  war,  in  a  time  of  high  political  excitement,  in 
a  time  of  momentous  national  controversy,  I  see  before  me  the 
representatives  of  the  people  almost  equally  divided,  not  merely, 


ROBERT  CHARLES  WINTHROP.      423 

as  the  votes  this  morning  have  already  indicated,  in  their  pref 
erence  for  persons,  but  in  opinion  and  in  principle,  on  many  of 
the  most  important  questions  on  which  they  have  assembled  to 
deliberate. 

"  May  I  not  reasonably  claim,  in  advance,  from  you  all,  some 
thing  more  than  an  ordinary  measure  of  forbearance  and  indul 
gence  for  whatever  inability  I  may  manifest  in  meeting  the  ex 
igencies  and  embarrassments  which  I  can  not  hope  to  escape  ? 
And  may  I  not  reasonably  implore,  with  something  more  than 
common  fervency,  upon  your  labors  and  upon  my  own,  the  bless 
ing  of  that  Almighty  Power  whose  recorded  attribute  it  is  that 
i  He  maketh  men  to  be  of  one  mind  in  a  house  !' 

"  Let  us  enter,  gentlemen,  upon  our  work  of  legislation  with 
a  solemn  sense  of  our  responsibility  to  God  and  to  our  country. 
However  we  may  be  divided  on  questions  of  immediate  policy, 
we  are  united  by  the  closest  ties  of  permanent  interest  and  per 
manent  obligation.  We  are  the  representatives  of  twenty  mill 
ions  of  people,  bound  together  by  common  laws  and  a  common 
liberty.  A  common  flag  floats  daily  over  us,  on  which  there  is 
not  one  of  us  who  would  see  a  stain  rest,  and  from  which  there 
is  not  one  of  us  who  would  see  a  star  struck.  And  we  have  a 
common  Constitution,  to  which  the  oath  of  allegiance,  which  it 
will  be  my  first  duty  to  administer  to  you,  will  be  only,  I  am 
persuaded,  the  formal  expression  of  those  sentiments  of  devotion 
which  are  already  cherished  in  all  our  hearts. 

"  There  may  be  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  powers  which 
this  Constitution  confers  upon  us ;  but  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  created  are  inscribed  upon  its  face  in  language  which  can 
not  be  misconstrued.  It  was  ordained  and  established  '  to  form 
a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  ensure  domestic  tran 
quillity,  provide  for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity.' 

"Union,  justice,  domestic  tranquillity,  the  common  defense, 
the  general  welfare,  and  the  security  of  liberty  for  us  and  for 
those  who  shall  come  after  us,  are  thus  the  great  objects  for 
which  we  are  to  exercise  whatever  powers  have  been  intrusted 
to  us.  And  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying,  that  there  have  been 
few  periods  in  our  national  history  when  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
people  have  been  turned  more  intently  and  more  anxiously  to- 


424  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

ward  the  Capitol  than  they  are  at  this  moment,  to  see  what  is 
to  be  done,  here  and  now,  for  the  vindication  and  promotion  of 
these  lofty  ends. 

"  Let  us  resolve,  then,  that  those  eyes  shall  at  least  witness 
on  our  part  duties  discharged  with  diligence,  deliberations  con 
ducted  with  dignity,  and  efforts  honestly  and  earnestly  made 
for  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  honor  of  the  republic. 

"I  shall  esteem  it  the  highest  privilege  of  my  public  life  if 
I  shall  be  permitted  to  contribute  any  thing  to  these  results  by 
a  faithful  and  impartial  administration  of  the  office  which  I  have 
now  accepted." 


• 


A  CALL  OF   THE   HOUSE. 

?  V  E  feel  some  solicitude,  courteous  reader,  that  your  eye 
lids  should  not  wax  heavy  under  the  influence  of  those  somber 
records  which,  of  necessity,  form  so  material  a  portion  of  our 
history.  We  propose,  therefore,  to  draw  off  your  attention  for 
a  brief  space  to  a  Call  of  the  House. 

The  representative  body,  like  other  assemblies  of  men,  must 
occasionally  have  recourse  to  its  muster-roll.  The  duties  of 
legislation  are  not  always  of  the  summer-day  order.  Some 
times  the  spirit  chafes,  the  limbs  grow  weary,  and  the  men 
tal  energies  flag  under  the  labor  which  the  daily  sessions  im 
pose,  especially  in  the  pell-mell  race  for  business  which  marks 
the  period  preceding  final  adjournment.  At  such  times  legis 
lators — "  children  of  an  older  growth" — need  the  stimulating 
process  to  bring  them  up  to  their  task,  and  the  House  in  these 
cases  asserts  its  authority  by  resort  to  what  is  termed  "  a  call." 
Our  own  experience  of  this  instrument  of  convocation  has 
impressed  us  with  no  very  high  estimate  of  its  utility.  Car 
ried  beyond  the  point  of  merely  calling  over  the  names  to  see 
who  were  present  and  who  absent,  we  can  not  recollect  a  sin 
gle  instance  in  which  we  have  known  it  productive  of  good. 
We  have,  on  the  contrary,  frequently  witnessed  confusion,  dis 
order,  vexation,  and  ill  blood  grow  out  of  it.  We  think  the 
House  would  have  done  well  for  its  own  comfort — to  use  no 
stronger  term — if  it  had  gone  at  least  so  far  as  Mr.  Adams  de 
sired  it  to  go  in  1840,  by  his  resolution  providing  that  no 
"  call"  should  be  ordered  after  ten  o'clock  at  night,  and  that 
the  attendance  of  no  member  should  be  required  after  midnight. 
We  have  seen  men  shine  forth  as  heroes  of  a  midnight  call  of 
the  House,  whose  genius  was  equal  to  no  loftier  achievement, 
and  the  star  of  whose  glory  "  paled  its  ineffectual  fire"  the  mo 
ment  the  mandate  went  forth,  "the  doors  of  the  hall  will  be 
opened." 

425 


426  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

The  sixty -fifth  and  sixty-sixth  standing  rules  of  the  House 
declare  that, 

"  Upon  the  call  of  the  House,  the  names  of  the  members 
shall  be  called  over  by  the  clerk,  and  the  absentees  noted ;  after 
which,  the  names  of  the  absentees  shall  again  be  called  over ; 
the  doors  shall  then  be  shut,  and  those  for  whom  no  excuse,  or 
insufficient  excuses  are  made,  may,  by  order  of  those  present, 
if  fifteen  in  number,  be  taken  into  custody  as  they  appear,  or 
may  be  sent  for  and  taken  into  custody,  wherever  to  be  found, 
by  special  messengers  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

"  When  a  member  shall  be  discharged  from  custody  and  ad 
mitted  to  his  seat,  the  House  shall  determine  whether  such 
discharge  shall  be  with  or  without  paying  fees;  and,  in  like 
manner,  whether  a  delinquent  member,  taken  into  custody  by 
a  special  messenger,  shall  or  shall  not  be  liable  to  defray  the 
expense  of  such  special  messenger." 

Suppose,  then,  that  the  business  of  the  day  has  lost  its  inter 
est  ;  or  that  there  is  music  at  the  President's ;  or  a  favorite 
horse  on  the  race-course  ;  or  that  bright  eyes  and  merry  hearts, 
taking  possession  of  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  are  drawing  within 
the  magic  of  their  sphere  almost  every  thing  that  has  life 
enough  to  bless  God  for  the  air  and  the  sunlight !  or,  suppose 
that  some  member,  exercising  his  "  inalienable  right"  "  to 
speak  to  Buncombe,"  should  be  left  almost  alone  in  his  glory, 
the  speaker,  clerk,  and  a  few  others  only  remaining  to  keep  up 
the  constitutional  forms.  This  is  no  uncommon  occurrence. 
We  knew  a  member  whose  rising  with  intent  to  make  a  speech 
was  the  signal  at  which  the  benches,  in  every  quarter  of  the 
hall,  were  precipitately  vacated.  He  was  himself  aware  of 
this  idiosyncrasy,  so  to  speak,  on  the  part  of  the  House,  but  it 
did  not  appear  to  distress  him  much ;  for  he  had  a  peculiar  fac 
ulty  of  securing  the  presence  of  at  least  one  listener,  who  could 
not  retire  without  a  breach  of  decorum  too  flagrant  for  any 
gentleman  to  commit.  When  he  had  obtained  the  floor,  he 
would  fix  his  eye  steadily — immovably — sternly,  upon  some 
innocent  victim,  whom  he  had  selected  for  the  purpose,  and 
would  address  to  him  all  his  arguments  and  gesticulations  pre 
cisely  as  if  no  other  human  being  were  present.  The  speaker, 
so  far  as  his  presence  was  heeded  or  needed,  might  have  been 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Potomac.  In  this  way,  the  member 


A   CALL   OF   THE    HOUSE.  427 

would  go  through  a  speech  of  several  hours,  much  to  his  own 
content,  but  to  the  sore  affliction  of  the  listener,  who  sat,  in 
gloom  and  sadness,  enchained  beneath  his  eye.  We  remember 
one  or  two  instances,  more  especially,  in  which  we  thought  the 
penance  inflicted  was  sufficient,  not  only  in  kind,  but  in  dura 
tion,  to  atone  for  any  sins  that  could  have  been  crowded  into 
the  brief  period  of  human  existence.  This,  however,  is  a  pa 
renthesis,  which  Thomas  F.  Marshall,  of  Kentucky,  speaking  of 
John  Tyler's  administration,  defined  to  be  something  that  might 
either  be  inserted  or  omitted  without  destroying  the  sense.  So 
we  proceed. 

Suppose  yet  again  that  a  long  day's  session  should  be  run 
ning  into  night — that  the  "  constitutional  quorum"  can  not  be 
drummed  up — and  that,  for  these  or  other  causes,  a  call  of  the 
House  is  ordered. 

When  the  decision  is  announced,  one  of  the  officers  forthwith 
sets  in  motion  a  huge  parent  bell,  whose  tintinnabulary  branches 
run  through  all  the  rooms  and  recesses  of  the  Capitol.  Under 
this  dissonant  music,  every  thing  human  starts  into  action,  pre 
senting  a  scene  such  as  Dante  might  have  pictured  in  the  in 
fernal  regions,  if  all  its  inhabitants  had  turned  out  to  dance  a 
cotillon. 

The  names  of  the  members  are  called  over,  and  then,  again, 
the  names  of  those  who  did  not  answer  the  first  time.  It  is  as 
tonishing  to  see  how  rapidly,  during  this  process,  the  seats  have 
been  filling  up  by  their  regular  tenants.  Where  they  come 
from  no  man  knoweth,  so  sudden  is  their  reappearance  on  the 
stage.  They  rise  up,  like  the  legions  of  Roderic  Dhu,  as  if  by 
incantation.  But  a  goodly  number  are  sure  to  be  missing  when 
the  order  is  given  to  close  the  doors — and  woe  be  to  them  ! 

Now  commences  the  business  of  taking  into  custody  and  hear 
ing  excuses.  The  sergeant-at-arms  is  out  on  his  mission  of  ar 
rest,  and  ever  and  anon  returns  with  some  disconsolate  member 
in  his  keeping,  who,  perhaps,  from  his  general  conscientiousness 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty,  might  have  been  the  last  man  upon 
whom  the  House  should  thus  have  laid  its  hand  of  power. 

Pending  this  process,  the  House  can  transact  no  legislative 
business,  and  if  it  is  prolonged  for  any  considerable  time,  it  be 
comes  matter  of  some  difficulty  for  those  who  are  thus  cooped 
up  to  find  occupation  or  amusement  in  the  intervals  that  elapse 


428  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

between  returns  of  delinquents.  We  have  seen  a  great  many 
devices  resorted  to  in  this  extremity.  Some  call  for  a  song, 
some  for  a  sermon.  Some  demand  the  reading  of  one  of  John 
Wentworth's  speeches,  some  of  the  Maysville  Veto.  But,  alas  ! 
all  are  out  of  order.  The  dull,  dead  reality  is  there !  The 
doors  are  locked,  and  the  prisoners  themselves  will  that  they 
shall  remain  so.  Pause  follows  pause,  each  longer  than  the 
other;  still,  the  House  will  neither  stay  proceedings  nor  con 
sent  to  adjourn.  It  is  in  an  obstinate  mood,  and  you  might  as 
well  hope  to  move  the  Capitol  from  its  foundations  as  to  divert 
the  House  from  its  object  now. 

In  the  mean  time,  nevertheless,  some  of  those  who  answered 
to  their  names  on  the  first  call  of  the  roll  have  disappeared. 
The  record  shows  them  present — that  is  enough ;  the  House 
can  not  visit  its  displeasure  upon  them.  Secure  from  the  pen- 
alties  it  might  otherwise  have  imposed,  they  may  go  home  and 
"  sleep  soundly,"  as  Duncan  did,  for  any  disturbance  that  the 
House  can  give  them. 

But  here  come  more  captives — some  in  pleasant  humor,  some 
who  look  as  if  they  thought  that  a  knock-down  blow,  when  the 
blood  is  up,  might  not  be  so  very  disagreeable  a  thing.  The 
speaker  accosts  the  first  of  them :  "  You  have  been  absent  from 
this  House  without  its  leave  and  contrary  to  its  order.  If  you 
have  any  excuse  to  offer,  you  will  now  be  heard." 

A  peal  of  laughter  rings  through  the  hall. 

The  Mary  lander,  to  whom  this  address  is  made,  replies,  "  I 
remained  in  this  House  all  day ;  the  law  allows  me  a  per  diem, 
but  not  a  per  noctem  ;"  and  he  sullenly  turns  on  his  heel  and 
walks  away. 

Admitted  to  his  seat  on  payment  of  fees. 

Georgia  next  ?  What  excuse  ?  "  The  child  of  a  valued 
friend  is  sick  unto  death,  and  I  had  relieved  the  watchers  by 
its  side.  This  is  the  third  session  during  which  I  have  been  a 
member  of  this  House,  and  I  have  never  before  been  thus  ar 
raigned." 

Excused. 

And  the  child  ?  Its  spirit  fled  that  night !  Light  rest  the 
turf  upon  its  ashes,  and  sweetly  smile  its  little  soul  in  the  bo 
som  of  Abraham  ! 

Come  on,  Virginia :  where  were  you  ?    "  The  gentleman  over 


A   CALL    OF   THE   HOUSE.  429 

the  way  was  addressing  the  committee,  and  the  usual  hour  for 
refreshment  had  passed.  I  preferred  the  arguments  of  the 
stomach  to  the  arguments  of  that  gentleman,  and  so  I  went 
home,"  'H 

Admitted  to  his  seat  on  payment  of  fees. 

Tennessee  lagging  also?  What  is  it  that  Tennessee  says 
growlingly  ?  "I left  the  hall  at  ten  o'clock,  and,  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  all  orderly  men,  went  to  bed.  I  have  no 
favors  to  ask  of  this  House,  and  particularly  in  the  condition 
in  which  I  find  some  of  its  members." 

Admitted  to  his  seat  on  payment  of  fees. 

Old  Kentucky  on  the  missing  list  too?  Perhaps  a  major 
general  that  was  to  be  ?  What  does  he  say  ?  "  I  sat  in  this 
House  for  ten  hours,  and  was  tired,  hungry,  and  sleepy.  I  be 
lieved  it  would  be  a  night  of  speech-making  and  not  of  busi 
ness,  and,  as  I  have  generally  been  an  attentive  listener  to 
speeches,  I  concluded  I  had  done  my  share  of  that  part  of  leg 
islative  duty,  and,  therefore,  at  ten  o'clock  I  paired  off  with  a 
friend." 

Admitted  to  his  seat  on  payment  of  fees. 

But  see,  who  is  that  ?  The  gentleman  from  Alabama,  num 
bered  now  with  the  pale  congregation.  How  came  he  here  ? 
He  was  absent  when  his  name  was  called.  Who  saw  him  pass 
over  the  projecting  top  of  the  entablature  which  runs  round 
the  Capitol,  from  whose  dangerous  height  the  slightest  misstep 
might  have  precipitated  him  to  the  massive  pavement  below, 
dashing  him  to  atoms,  and  enter  the  hall  by  the  window  at 
the  back  of  the  speaker's  chair  ?  No  matter ;  there  he  is !  The 
clerk  can  not,  for  his  life,  present  him  as  an  absentee. 

That  dark  object  in  yonder  corner,  seen,  perhaps,  but  by  a 
single  eye — what  is  it  ?  Can  it  be  a  member  descending  from 
the  gallery  down  the  side  of  the  granite  pillar  ?  Surely,  sure 
ly.  His  name  was  on  the  list  of  absentees ;  but  what  right 
now  has  it  there  ?  The  doors  are  barred.  The  member  is  in 
his  seat.  Record  him  absent  at  your  peril,  Mr.  Clerk ! 

And  so,  the  night  is  past.  "  The  morn,  in  russet  mantle 
clad,  walks  o'er  the  dew  of  yonder  eastern  hill."  Daylight 
looks  upon  faces  pale  with  watching,  and  sleepless  eyes  that 
scarce  take  note  of  its  approach.  What  have  the  public  inter 
ests  gained  ?  Nothing.  What  public  measure  has  been  con- 


430  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

summated  ?  None.  A  motion  is  made  that  the  House  adjourn. 
Some  feeble  voice,  almost  choked  in  its  own  utterance,  de 
mands  the  yeas  and  nays,  which  have  been  called,  during  the 
night,  a  dozen  times.  But  there  are  few  or  none  to  back  him. 
The  speaker  puts  the  question,  and  members,  whose  lungs,  but 
a  moment  before,  seemed  to  have  lost  their  functions  forever, 
once  more  take  heart,  and  give  a  responsive  "  ay,"  which  tells 
how  welcome  their  "  mittimus"  will  be.  But  it  is  not  unani 
mous.  No  ;  here  and  there  a  broken  voice,  like  stray  shots 
from  muskets  that  have  missed  time  in  a  feu  de  joie,  gives  out 
a  querulous  "  no,"  as  if  merely  from  the  love  of  a  negative.  In 
fact,  it  is  a  matter  worthy  of  remark,  that,  except  in  cases  of 
death,  we  have  never  seen  the  House  adjourn  by  a  unanimous 
vote.  No  matter  how  late  or  how  early — with  business  before 
it  or  without  business  before  it — be  it  night  or  be  it  day — Sat 
urday  evening  or  Sunday  morning,  some  one  or  more  mem 
bers  will  surely  answer  "  no."  We  have  frequently  commun 
ed  with  ourselves  on  this  strange  manifestation  of  the  human 
mind,  but  without  dispelling  its  mystery.  The  nearest  ap 
proach  to  a  solution  that  we  could  arrive  at  has  been,  that  two 
or  three  men  did  not  wish  a  certain  thing  simply  because  two 
hundred  did  wish  it ;  and  that,  upon  the  same  inexplicable  prin 
ciple  of  human  conduct,  if  the  two  hundred  had  voted  not  to 
adjourn,  the  two  or  three  would  have  insisted  upon  adjourning'. 
However  that  may  be,  the  speaker  announces,  in  a  tone  of 
ill-suppressed  gratulation,  that  the  motion  has  been  decided  in 
the  affirmative.  The  Call  of  the  House  has  no  more  vitality 
left.  The  doors  of  the  hall  are  open,  and  the  House  adjourns. 


Engraved  "by  JJ7£.PrudTaofeme    from -a  Daguerreotype 


ARPER     8c    BR 


, 

:     <iTl    jfojr'f/ 


i 

TV 

•i  Is-  was  not  undis' 
our  ru- 

! 

t  Gamble,  who,  vV'he: 
army  du 


•A'aliatn   '  K  Mftr,- 

. 


, 

«ted 

-  >oon  after  his  guberna- 

Icac  r**  niada  >«dge  of  the  General 

urt  ;aia  m  tlie  ^ear  -1808,  aad  &  vaoautcy  occurring 

\  \  \  >;  .  :-<-rwfUKi-  ^pcaj  the  benc)i  of  the  <3*>urt  of-  Appeal 

l^^^r^thejuti; 

"'  ^  r  4>f  Virginia  having  been  changed  H  4&B 

ne  u^ressary  again  for  the  Lctfi^^fum  %» 

of  Appeals,  whr::  Judc^ 
testimonial  i>f  their  urn'^'*-?  ^*^f 


^n  an    as 

|^«MW**v: 

him  President  of  the  Court  ot  Appeals  by  a  unanimous  vote  — 

431 


432  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

an  office  which  he  now  holds.  Judge  Cabell's  decisions  are 
held  in  the  highest  respect  by  the  bar  and  bench,  not  only  of 
Virginia,  but  of  the  whole  country.  He  has  preferred  that  the 
sphere  of  his  exertions  should  be  confined  to  his  native  state, 
neither  seeking  nor  desiring  office  from  the  general  government. 

Edward  Carrington  Cabell  graduated  at  the  University  of 
Virginia.  About  the  1st  of  January,  1837,  at  the  age  of  twen 
ty,  he  removed  to  Florida,  and  established  himself  in  the  county 
of  Jefferson  as  a  cotton  planter. 

Florida,  as  is  well  known,  was  the  first  portion  of  the  United 
States  settled  by  Europeans.  Those  who  returned  to  Europe 
spread  far  and  wide  the  fame  of  her  salubrious  climate,  her 
beautiful  skies,  her  noble  rivers,  her  health-giving  fountains, 
and  her  evergreen  forest  of  live-oak  and  magnolia.  It  was  the 
land  of  flowers,  of  poetry,  and  of  song.  Being  a  peninsula  in 
the  Western  waters,  it  was  likened  to  Italy  ;  and,  as  in  that 
country,  there  is  poetry  and  romance  in  the  very  origin  of  this 
extraordinary  land.  History  and  fable  seem  so  blended  togeth 
er  as  to  render  it  almost  as  difficult  to  track  the  plain  line  of 
truth,  as  it  would  be  to  pass  directly  through  Florida's  vast  for 
est  without  pausing  to  admire  the  beauty  of  the  magnolia  and 
of  the  innumerable  flowers  that  bloom  in  the  wild  luxuriance 
of  Nature.  It  may  be,  indeed,  that  the  calm,  clear  eye  of  truth 
may  detect  much  of  the  coloring  of  a  rich  imagination  in  the 
first  accounts  of  this  beautiful  country ;  but  no  one  can  read 
these  descriptions,  and  recollect  especially  the  romantic  story 
of  the  expedition  of  Ponce  de  Leon,  without  being  satisfied  that 
a  country  that  could  call  forth  such  eulogies  and  extravagance 
of  enthusiasm  from  the  imaginative  Spaniard,  must  contain 
much  to  render  a  sojourn  therein  both  profitable  and  delightful. 

We  read  of  towns  at  once  springing  up  on  the  Atlantic  fron 
tier.  At  St.  Augustine  are  yet  to  be  seen  the  remains  of  one 
of  the  finest  forts  in  the  Union ;  and  though  at  present  neglected 
and  only  used  as  a  prison,  it  is  represented  as  capable  of  being 
put  into  complete  repair  at  a  moderate  expense.  The  country 
around  shows  that  it  was  once  settled  and  cultivated  by  the 
European;  and,  in  fact,  up  to  the  time  of  its  purchase  from 
Spain  by  the  United  States,  Florida  exhibited  signs  of  great 
prosperity.  At  one  time  it  was  not  unusual  to  see  three  hun 
dred  sail  in  the  Roads  of  Fernandina,  a  town  situated  on  Amelia 


EDWARD   CARRINGTON   CABELL.  433 

Island,  within  the  Florida  frontier.  Since  this  purchase,  how 
ever,  from  various  causes,  its  advancement  has  not  kept  pace 
with  other  portions  of  the  Union.  Many  of  the  Spaniards  at 
once  left  the  country,  and  the  troubles  among  the  Indians  pre 
vented  the  coming  in  of  new  immigrants  to  supply  their  place. 
After  these  Indian  disturbances  had  been  quieted  by  the  strong 
hand  of  the  general  government,  the  tide  of  immigration  began 
to  set  in  this  direction ;  but  the  savage  foe  was  beaten,  not  con 
quered  ;  confined  to  a  narrow  portion  of  the  territory,  not  re 
moved  from  it.  The  Seminole  war  broke  out,  and  continued 
for  many  years,  until  the  great  body  of  the  Indians  were  re 
moved  to  their  present  home  beyond  the  Mississippi.  These 
causes  chiefly  have  retarded  the  growth  of  Florida.  But  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  she  is  now  again  advancing  rap 
idly  in  wealth  and  population,  and  that  the  most  sanguine  ex 
pectations  which  have  been  formed  of  her  future  destiny  will 
be  realized. 

At  the  time  of  Mr.  Cabell's  removal,  Florida  was  a  territory. 
In  the  year  succeeding  that  of  his  arrival  there,  the  people  were 
called  upon  to  hold  a  convention  to  frame  a  state  Constitution, 
and  he  was  elected  a  delegate  from  the  county  in  which  he  re 
sided.  In  the  proceedings  and  debates  of  that  convention  he 
took  an  active  part. 

The  admission  of  Florida  into  the  Union  was  deferred  for 
several  years,  owing  chiefly  to  the  continuation  of  the  Florida 
war.  In  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Cabell,  not  finding  sufficient  oc 
cupation  and  interest  in  a  planter's  life,  was  admitted  to  the 
bar,  and  found,  in  a  short  space  of  time,  that  he  had  as  much 
business  as  he  could  well  attend  to. 

It  is  known  that  the  people  of  a  territory  enjoy  only  partial 
political  liberty,  and  that  the  emoluments  of  public  offices  con 
stitute  the  chief  inducement  to  their  acceptance.  Mr.  Cabell 
continued  to  urge  the  admission  of  Florida  into  the  Confeder 
acy,  but,  with  this  exception,  paid  little  attention  to  public 
concerns.  The  act  of  admission  was  passed  by  Congress  in 
March,  1845,  and  Florida  was  received  as  an  equal  into  the 
sisterhood  of  states.  So  long  as  she  remained  in  a  state  of  ter 
ritorial  dependence,  but  little  interest  was  felt  by  her  people  in 
Federal  politics ;  but,  having  assumed  the  duties  and  responsi 
bilities  of  citizens  of  an  independent  commonwealth,  her  people 

VOL.  I.— E  E 


434  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

suddenly  awoke  as  from  a  long  lethargy,  and  became  partici 
pants  at  once  in  that  strong  political  excitement  which  seems 
to  constitute  an  essential  part  of  the  nutriment  by  which  the 
people  of  the  several  states  of  the  Union  live,  and  move,  and 
have  their  being.  With  the  organization  of  a  state  government 
parties  were  formed.  At  the  first  state  election,  held  in  May, 
1845,  the  Democratic  party  swept  the  state.  David  L.  Yulee, 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress,  was  elected  by  a  ma 
jority  nearly  equal  to  one  fourth  the  entire  vote  of  the  state. 
The  Legislature  having,  however,  elected  that  gentleman  to 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  a  new  election  for  repre 
sentative  having  therefore  become  necessary,  it  was  ordered  to 
be  held  in  October  of  the  same  year.  So  signal  had  been  the 
defeat  of  the  Whig  party  in  the  month  of  May  previous,  that 
many  of  its  leading  men  thought  it  politic  to  have  no  candidate 
of  their  own  to  oppose  Mr.  William  H.  Brockenbrough,  the  cho 
sen  candidate  of  the  Democratic  party.  Other  portions  of  the 
Whig  party,  not  willing  thus  to  surrender  their  cause  without 
a  struggle,  invited  Mr.  Cabell  to  take  the  field,  to  lead  what 
then  seemed  to  be  "  a  forlorn  hope."  He  engaged  actively  in 
the  canvass,  and  addressed  the  people  wherever  he  could  bring 
them  together.  He  was  declared  to  be  elected — a  result  to  be 
attributed  mainly,  we  believe,  to  his  personal  popularity. 

He  took  his  seat  under  the  commission  of  the  governor  of 
the  state.  His  right  was  immediately  contested  by  Mr.  Brock 
enbrough.  The  case  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Elec 
tions,  and  a  report  was  made  by  the  majority  of  that  commit 
tee,  declaring  that  Mr.  Cabell  was  not,  and  that  Mr.  Brocken 
brough  was,  entitled  to  the  seat.  The  minority  of  the  com 
mittee  made  a  counter  report. 

The  discussion  and  decision  of  the  case  occupied  several  days. 
It  was  marked,  on  the  part  both  of  the  sitting  and  contesting 
member,  as  such  controversies  usually  are,  with  some  bitter 
ness.  The  Democratic  party,  then  in  an  overwhelming  major 
ity  in  the  House,  was  far  from  unanimous,  as  the  votes  will 
show,  in  favor  of  the  Democratic  candidate.  On  the  second 
day  of  the  debate,  a  proposition  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Sims, 
of  South  Carolina,  a  Democratic  member,  recommitting  the  re 
port  to  the  Committee  on  Elections,  in  order  that  any  eviden 
ces  of  returns  not  yet  received  might  be  received  and  reported, 


EDWARD   CARRINGTON   CABELL.  435 

and  giving  leave  to  the  parties  to  take  testimony  in  relation 
thereto.  The  next  day^  Mr.  Cabell  adopted  this  proposition  as 
his  own,  linking  it,  however,  with  another.  He  said  : 

"  He  had  risen  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  proposition  which 
would  probably  save  much  time.  It  had  been  intimated  by  the 
friends  of  the  contestant  that  his  desire  was,  that  the  voice  of 
the  people,  as  given  at  the  polls,  should  be  heard,  and  should 
prevail ;  that  he  did  not  wish  to  avail  himself  of  any  technical 
advantage ;  but  that  he  was  ready  to  adopt  such  a  course  as 
would  enable  the  House  to  ascertain  how  the  people  had  voted. 
That  was  precisely  his  (Mr.  Cabell's)  object ;  and  it  could  be 
accomplished,  as  he  understood,  by  the  adoption  of  the  resolu 
tion  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  Sims).  If  the 
friends  of  the  gentleman  (Mr.  Brockenbrough)  were  sincere — 
or,  rather,  if  the  friends  of  the  gentleman  spoke  for  him — and 
such  was  his  object,  it  could  (Mr.  Cabell  repeated)  be  attained 
by  that  resolution.  To  test  the  matter,  he  would  therefore  pro 
pose  that  the  resolution  should  be  submitted  to  the  House  with 
out  further  debate ;  and,  if  it  was  the  object  of  all  parties,  as 
it  certainly  was  his,  to  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  the  facts,  this 
was  a  mode  by  which  it  could  be  effected. 

"I  will  also,"  continued  Mr.  Cabell,  "offer  an  alternative 
proposition  ;  and  if  the  gentleman  (Mr.  Brockenbrough)  will  not 
meet  me  on  this  point — if  the  resolution  is  not  acceptable  to 
him  or  to  his  friends — I  will  propose  that,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
doubtful  which  of  the  two  have  received  a  majority  of  the  votes 
of  the  people  of  Florida  (and  I  will  admit  that  it  is  doubtful, 
although  I  believe  that  I  have  myself  received  that  majority), 
yet  I  propose  to  him  that  we  give  this  House  no  further  trouble, 
but  that  we  go  back  to  the  people — the  fountain-source  from 
which  we  claim  our  rights.  They  are  the  proper  tribunal.  I 
am  not  afraid  of  them.  I  believe  that  they  have  once  elected 
me,  and  that  they  will  elect  me  again.  I  am  willing  to  trust 
myself  in  their  hands,  and  I  believe  that  they  will  at  once  con 
fer  a  majority  of  their  suffrages  upon  me." 

To  these  propositions  Mr.  Brockenbrough  declined  to  accede. 
We  have  noticed  the  spirit  of  bitterness  which  pervaded  the 
controversy.  When  rejecting  the  alternative  proposition,  Mr. 
Brockenbrough  said : 

"  If  the  gentleman  (Mr.  Cabell)  was,  as  he  alleged,  so  hur- 


436  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

ried  to  come  here  to  perform  the  duties  which  he  owed  to  his 
constituents  that  he  could  not  find  time  to  state  to  him  (Mr. 
Brockenbrough)  the  grounds  upon  which  he  meant  to  meet  the 
issue,  he  asked  him,  What  had  he  done  since  he  had  been  here, 
that  he  was  now  willing  to  deprive  the  State  of  Florida  of  her 
elected  representative?  Had  he  fortified  her  harbors?  Had 
he  protected  her  coasts  ?  Had  he  regulated  her  land  system  ? 
What  stupendous  work  had  he  done  that  he  should  be  willing 
to  leave  that  state  for  several  months  of  this  important  Congress 
without  a  representative,  when  he  had  been  in  such  a  hurry  to 
come  here  ?  No  ;  these  were  very  ingenious  movements — 
movements  which  showed  a  part  of  the  same  ability  by  means 
of  which  he  (Mr.  Brockenbrough)  had  come  so  near  being  de 
feated.  The  gentleman  might  be  willing  to  abandon  a  seat 
proved  to  belong  to  him  (Mr.  Brockenbrough),  but  he  (Mr. 
Brockenbrough)  could  not  abandon  the  duties  which  he  owed 
to  his  constituents." 

To  all  this,  on  the  following  day,  Mr.  Cabell  replied : 
"  I  scarcely  know  how  I  am  to  proceed  to  reply  to  the  gen 
tleman's  speech  of  yesterday.  From  beginning  to  end  it  was 
almost  devoid  of  argument.  It  abounded  in  abuse  and  vituper 
ation  of  myself,  and  of  those  members  of  the  committee  who 
had  sustained  my  position.  It  was  probably  the  most  extraor 
dinary  speech  ever  delivered  in  a  controversy  of  this  character  ; 
and  I  question  whether,  in  the  annals  of  legislation,  such  an 
abuse  of  privilege  and  of  the  courtesy  of  the  House  was  ever 
known  as  was  yesterday  exhibited  here.  Gentlemen  who  heard 
it  will  recollect  its  character,  and  will  see  that  these  remarks 
are  justified  by  it.  It  contained  gross  misrepresentations  of  the 
conduct  of  the  committee  ;  their  motives  were  impugned ;  les 
sons  and  homilies  upon  honor,  honesty,  and  morality  were  read 
to  them.  Sir>  the  committee  can  protect  itself.  Probably,  be 
fore  I  get  through,  they  will  know  something  of  the  character 
of  their  teacher. 

"  I  regret  that  I  am  obliged  to  express  myself  in  such  terms. 
I  regret  to  find  myself  placed  in  a  position  in  which  I  must  use 
language  of  retort ;  but  justice  to  myself  requires  it.  The  tone 
and  temper  of  the  gentleman's  speech  justify  me  in  speaking 
plainly  on  this  question.  The  ungenerous,  the  discourteous, 
and,  were  it  not  that  I  might  violate  the  rules  of  order,  I  would 


EDWARD   CARRINGTON   CABELL.  437 

say,  the  impudent  assertions  of  the  gentleman,  excited  in  my 
bosom  nothing  more  than  a  feeling  of  sovereign  contempt.  He 
has  undertaken  to  arraign  me  before  this  House — to  hold  me 
up  to  the  House  and  to  the  country  as  derelict  of  duty.  He 
says  that  I  have  remained  here  for  five  or  six  months,  and  done 
nothing.  He  asks  why  I  have  not  procured  the  adoption  of 
measures  to  fortify  the  harbors  of  Florida,  to  protect  her  coast, 
to  regulate  the  land  system,  and  to  do  various  other  things, 
which  I  do  not  at  this  moment  remember,  but  which  will,  no 
doubt,  be  in  the  recollection  of  this  House.  Sir,  this  is  a  mat 
ter  between  myself  and  my  constituents ;  it  is  not  an  argument 
to  address  to  this  House.  Has  it  come  to  this,  that  because, 
in  the  opinion  of  one  individual,  a  member  of  this  House  has 
not  been  diligent  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  therefore  his 
right  to  represent  the  people  who  sent  him  here  is  to  be  taken 
from  him  ?  I  might,  with  equal  justice,  demand  of  every  mem 
ber  of  this  House  what  he  has  done  ?  what  bill  he  has  caused 
to  be  passed  ?  what  he  has  done  for  the  protection  and  defense 
of  the  country,  in  the  state  of  imminent  peril  of  war  which 
now  threatens  her.  Sir,  if  the  gentleman's  argument  is  good 
as  to  one  member,  it  is  equally  applicable  to  others ;  and,  ac 
cording  to  his  rule,  we  should  see  many  vacant  seats  here.  I 
should  blush  to  listen  to  such  remarks  and  such  arguments, 
even  on  the  stump.  I  will  only  say,  further,  that  I  have  not 
thrust  myself  forward  upon  the  discussion  of  every  question 
that  has  come  before  this  House.  I  may  have  been,  in  some 
degree,  ignorant  of  the  rules  of  parliamentary  proceeding. 
Probably,  when  I  have  been  longer  a  member  of  this  body,  I 
shall  have  it  in  my  power  to  accomplish  more  in  a  short  time 
than  I  can  now.  But  I  say  to  the  gentleman,  and  to  my  con 
stituents,  that  I  have  diligently  and  faithfully  attended  to  every 
matter  of  business  that  has  been  intrusted  to  me.  Nothing 
committed  to  my  charge  has  been  neglected,  and,  if  I  have  not 
done  so  much  as  I  could  desire,  or  as,  perhaps,  was  expected 
from  me,  it  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  difficulties  thrown  in  my 
way  by  the  attempt  of  the  gentleman  to  deprive  me  of  that 
right  which  I  claim  that  the  people  of  Florida  have  conferred 
upon  me." 

On  the  following  day,  January  the  24th,  1846,  the  house  eject 
ed  Mr.  Cabell  from  his  seat  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  five 


438  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

against  seventy-nine,  and  forthwith  gave  it  to  Mr.  Brocken 
brough  by  a  vote  of  one  hundred  against  eighty-four ;  Mr.  Chip- 
man,  one  of  the  majority  of  the  Committee  on  Elections,  vot 
ing  against  both  these  proceedings.  An  examination  of  the 
votes  will  show  a  comminglement  of  parties ;  and  so  little  sat 
isfied  did  the  House  itself  appear  to  be  with  its  own  decision, 
that  a  motion  to  reconsider  the  last  vote,  with  the  design,  also, 
of  reconsidering  the  first,  for  purposes  of  further  investigation, 
failed  by  four  votes  only. 

Mr.  Cabell  returned,  therefore,  to  his  people,  but  carried 
with  him,  as  we  had  reason  to  know,  the  respect  and  consider 
ation  of  the  very  body  which  had  thrust  him  beyond  its  bar. 
Confident  in  the  justice  of  his  cause,  but  singularly  modest  and 
unaffected  in  his  manners,  he  had  won  rapidly  upon  the  good 
feeling  of  the  House,  not  less  by  his  personal  deportment  than 
by  the  manly,  yet  well-tempered  independence  with  which  he 
defended  a  right  that  he  sincerely  believed  to  be  his. 

Mr.  Brockenbrough  retained  the  seat  during  the  residue  of 
the  twenty-ninth  Congress.  But  on  the  1st  of  October,  1846, 
a  representative  in  the  thirtieth  Congress  having  to  be  chosen, 
Mr.  Cabell  was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  candidate  of  the 
Whig  party.  A  Democratic  Convention,  setting  aside  the  name 
of  Mr.  Brockenbrough,  nominated  Mr.  William  A.  Kain,  a  gen 
tleman  who,  it  was  believed,  could  unite  the  entire  vote  of  his 
party.  Mr.  Cabell  was  again  elected,  and  took  his  seat  as  the 
representative  from  the  State  of  Florida. 

The  accompanying  letter  from  him  concerning  the  election 
of  Speaker  of  the  thirtieth  Congress  [see  title,  R.  C.  WINTHROP], 
contains  matter  of  public  interest,  which  entitles  it  to  a  place 
here: 

"  To  the  Editors  of  the  National  Intelligencer : 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  January  13,  1848. 

"GENTLEMEN, — Since  the  election  of  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  the  Southern  Democratic  papers  have  been 
filled  with  denunciations  of  Southern  Whigs  who  cast  their 
votes  for  the  Honorable  Robert  C.  Winthrop.  The  last  mail 
brought  me  a  budget  of  these  papers  from  my  own  state,  con 
taining  the  most  illiberal  and  abusive  articles  of  myself,  witli 
such  choice  expressions  as  *  Traitor  to  the  South,'  '  False  to  his 
own  country,'  &c.,  for  voting  for  l  THE  ABOLITIONIST  WINTHROP  !' 


EDWARD   CARRINGTON    CABELL.  439 

"  The  editorial  corps  in  other  states  have  probably  had  more 
regard  for  propriety,  decency,  and  truth,  than  some  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  editors  in  Florida ;  but  there  are  certain  facts  connect 
ed  with  the  election  of  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  which  are  of  sufficient  general  interest  to  justify  me  in 
asking  a  place  for  this  communication  in  the  columns  of  your 
paper. 

"  I  yield  to  no  man  in  devotion  to  the  rights  and  interests  of 
the  South.  As  a  Southern  man,  I  most  cheerfully  gave  my 
vote  for  Mr.  Winthrop,  and  mean  to  make  no  apology  for  it. 
All  admit  his  fitness  for  the  office  of  speaker.  No  member  of 
the  House  is  perhaps  better  qualified  to  discharge  its  duties. 

"  By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  speakers  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  have  been  Southern  men.  At  the  commence 
ment  of  the  present  session,  the  Northern  Whigs  presented  a 
candidate  peculiarly  qualified,  from  his  talents,  high  character, 
gentlemanly  deportment,  and  parliamentary  experience.  He 
was  elected,  not  one  Southern  Whig  voting  against  him.  To 
have  opposed  his  election  because  he  represented  a  constituency 
whose  institutions  do  not  tolerate  slavery,  would,  have  been  an 
act  of  madness  and  criminal  folly.  It  would  have  been  suicidal 
— -fatal  to  the  South.  By  so  doing,  Southern  representatives 
would  indeed  have  shown  themselves  i  TRAITORS  TO  THE  SOUTH.' 

"It  is  well  known  that  the  South  is  in  a  minority  in  the 
Congressional  and  electoral  representation.  What  would  be 
our  condition  if  we  take  the  position  that  we  will  not  support 
a  man  for  even  a  secondary  office  who  does  not  come  from  our 
own  section  of  country  ?  Will  not  the  North  retaliate  ?  Can 
it  be  expected  that  the  people  of  the  free  states  will  give  to  us 
the  monopoly  of  all  the  offices  of  government  ?  They  can  con 
trol  all  of  our  important  elections,  and  will  not  submit  to  such 
unreasonable  exactions  on  the  part  of  the  South.  Is  it  wise  in 
us  to  forget  the  admonitions  of  the  Father  of  his  Country,  who 
counseled  us  to  beware  of  sectional  issues  ?  Shall  we  wanton 
ly  seek  to  involve  ourselves  in  angry  strife  and  bitterness  of 
feeling  with  our  Northern  brethren,  and  court  a  geographical 
contest,  in  which  every  advantage  will  be  on  the  side  of  those 
we  would  make  our  enemies  ?  The  true  policy  of  the  South 
is  to  be  firm  in  the  maintenance  of  its  rights,  but  to  be  JUST. 

"  The  Whig  party,  North  and  South,  is  characterized  by  a 


440  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

spirit  of  conservatism.  It  embraces  in  its  comprehensive  view 
the  whole  country.  It  is  not  influenced  by  a  narrow,  contract 
ed,  selfish,  sectional  policy.  At  this  moment,  it  is  well  known 
that  most  of  the  Northern  Whigs  are  willing  to  cast  their  vote 
for  a  Southern  man  for  President  of  the  United  States.  And 
shall  it  be  said  that  we  of  the  South  should  force  upon  them  a 
geographical  issue,  and  compel  our  Northern  friends  to  vote  for 
a  Northern  man,  and  thus  elect  a  Northern  president,  North 
ern  speaker,  Northern  clerk,  Northern  officers  of  all  kinds,  and 
establish  a  Northern  government  ? 

"  The  accomplished  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  in  his  own  state,  resisted  successfully  the  adoption  of  the 
principle  upon  which  Southern  Democrats  insist  that  Southern 
Whigs  should  have  acted.  At  the  Springfield  (Massachusetts) 
Convention,  held  in  September  last,  a  resolution  was  offered 
'  that  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  will  support  no  man  for  the 
office  of  President  and  Vice  President  but  such  as  are  known, 
by  their  acts  or  declared  opinions,  to  be  opposed  to  the  exten 
sion  of  slavery.'  Mr.  Winthrop  opposed  and  prevented  the  pas 
sage  of  this  resolution,  avowing  his  determination  to  support  a 
slaveholder  for  the  presidency,  should  he  be  the  candidate  of 
the  Whig  party. 

"  It  was  the  duty  of  Southern  Whigs  to  sustain  such  a  man. 
I  could  not  reconcile  it  to  myself  to  adopt  a  false  principle  of 
action  which  this  gentleman  had  repudiated,  and  make  him  the 
first  victim  to  Southern  selfishness,  by  refusing  to  vote  for  him 
as  presiding  officer  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  after  he 
had  pledged  himself  to  vote  for  the  Whig  candidate  as  presid 
ing  officer  of  the  nation,  should  he  come  from  the  section  of  the 
country  I  represent. 

"  The  unpardonable  sin  which  Mr.  Winthrop  has  committed 
was  in  offering  a  proviso  to  the  Oregon  Bill,  at  the  second  ses- 
.sion  of  the  twenty-eighth  Congress,  to  the  effect  '  that  there 
shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  in  the  said 
territory  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof 
the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted.'  For  this,  any  lan 
guage  fails  to  furnish  words  strong  enough  to  express  the  indig 
nant  feelings  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer  and  other  Democratic 
papers  in  my  own  and  other  Southern  States.  What  will  the 
country  think  of  the  affected  indignation  and  pretended  devo- 


EDWARD   CARRINGTON   CABELL.  441 

tion  of  these  journals  to  Southern  rights,  when  it  is  told  that  Mr. 
John  W.  Davis,  the  late  Democratic  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  voted  for  this  same  '  iniquitous  proviso?  and 
that  the  name  of  Mr.  Davis  is  found  recorded  with  that  of  Mr. 
Winthrop  throughout  the  whole  of  the  proceedings  of  the  House 
on  the  said  Oregon  Bill  ?  And  what  can  exceed  the  impudence 
of  these  exclusive  friends  of  the  South  in  their  present  hypo 
critical  professions  ?  Every  Democratic  representative  of  the 
last  Congress  voted  for  Mr.  Davis.  If  these  Democratic  edi 
tors  really  believe  that  the  Southern  Whigs  who  voted  for  Mr. 
Winthrop  have,  by  so  doing,  proved  themselves  '  traitors  to  the 
South,'  what  term,  according  to  their  own  confessions,  should 
be  applied  to  them  for  their  support  of  a  man  for  the  identical 
office  whose  votes  are  identical  with  those  of  Mr.  Winthrop  ? 

"  The  Richmond  Enquirer,  speaking  of  this  subject,  says : 
'  But  this  did  not  satisfy  Mr.  Winthrop.  On  the  1st  of  Feb 
ruary,  1845,  when  the  bill  was  under  consideration,  he  moved, 
as  a  section  to  the  bill,  the  identical  proviso  which  is  at  this 
time  called  the  Wilmot  Proviso.'  This  assertion  has  been  made 
and  repeated  in  most  of  the  Southern  papers.  I  hold  them  to 
it,  and  *  out  of  their  own  mouths  will  I  condemn  them.'  Mr. 
John  W.  Davis  voted  for  this  proviso.  The  Democrats  of  the 
last  Congress  stand  self-convicted  of  having  elected  to  the  speak- 
ership  an  advocate  of  the  '  identical  proviso*  introduced  by  Mr. 
Wilmot.  I  do  not  regard  Mr.  Winthrop's  proviso  '  identical' 
with  Mr.  Wilmot's.  The  Democrats  say  they  do,  and,  so  be 
lieving,  voted  for  its  advocate. 

"  The  offense  which  the  Southern  Whigs  of  the  present  Con 
gress  have  committed  is,  not  that  they  have  voted  for  a  gentle 
man  who  sustained  the  anti-slavery  proviso  to  the  Oregon  Bill, 
but  that  they  have  elected  a  Whig-  speaker  of  a  Whig  House 
of  Representatives.  Had  Mr.  Winthrop  been  a  Democrat,  he 
would  have  been  eulogized  by  his  present  revilers  as  '  a  North 
ern  man  with  Southern  principles.' 

"  After  this  '  infamous  proviso1  had  been  appended  to  the 
Oregon  Bill,  every  Southern  Democrat  but  THREE  voted  for  it, 
Mr.  Winthrop  voting  against  the  bill  with  the  proviso,  and  Mr. 
Davis  voting  for  it.  (See  House  Journal,  second  session,  twen 
ty-eighth  Congress,  pages  318  to  322  inclusive.) 

"  I  make  no  apology  for  Mr.  Winthrop  for  having  introduced 


442  HISTORY   OP   CONGRESS. 

this  proviso,  though  he  voted  against  the  bill,  much  less  can  I 
justify  Mr.  Davis,  who  voted  both  for  the  proviso  and  the  bill. 
Southern  Democrats,  who  voted  with  him,  can  doubtless  make 
an  excuse  for  him. 

"  The  charge  of  want  of  fealty  to  the  South  comes  with  a  bad 
grace  from  gentlemen  who  supported  Mr.  Davis,  and  most  of 
whom  contributed  to  the  election  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  who  ac 
knowledged  the  '  right  of  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,'  and  who,  in  the  New  York  Convention,  voted 
to  place  free  negroes  on  a  footing  with  whites. 

"  It  is  charged  that  this  proviso  to  the  Oregon  Bill  was  the 
origin  of  the  famous  *  Wilmot  Proviso ;'  but  it  will  be  found, 
by  reference  to  the  same  journal,  page  260,  that  another  bill 
had  been  previously  passed  which  may  justly  claim  the  pater 
nity  of  this  distinguished  offspring.  I  allude  to  the  *  joint  res 
olution  for  the  annexation  of  Texas.'  The  third  '  condition'  on 
which  '  the  consent  of  Congress'  was  given  to  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  concludes  thus : 

"  *  And  such  states  as  may  be  formed  out  of  that  portion  of 
said  territory  lying  south  of  thirty-six  degrees  thirty  minutes 
north  latitude,  commonly  known  as  the  Missouri  compromise 
line,  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Union  with  or  without  slavery, 
as  the  people  of  each  state  asking  admission  may  desire ;  and 
in  such  state  or  states  as  shall  be  formed  out  of  said  territory 
north  of  said  Missouri  compromise  line,  SLAVERY  OR  INVOLUNTARY 
SERVITUDE  (except  for  crimes)  SHALL  BE  PROHIBITED.' 

"  This  is  the  true,  bona  fide  Wilmot  Proviso.  Mr.  Win- 
throp's  proviso  applied  to  territory  already  belonging  to  the 
United  States,  and  which  properly  came  within  the  principle 
of  the  Missouri  compromise ;  but  here  we  see  the  principle  for 
the  first  time  extended  to  foreign  territory,  and  we  find  every 
Southern  Democrat,  our  special  and  peculiar  friends,  with  Mr. 
John  W.  Davis,  voting  for  it !  Mr.  Wilmot  proposes  that  his 
proviso  shall  extend  to  all  territory  hereafter  to  be  annexed  ; 
this  i  condition'  was  applied  to  territory  thereafter  to  be  annexed. 

"  The  entire  Democratic  party,  except  Mr.  Holmes,  of  South 
Carolina,  voted  for  Mr.  B.  B.  French*  for  the  office  of  clerk  at 

*  Mr.  French,  in  a  letter  to  the  editors  of  the  "  National  Intelligencer"  of  a  sub 
sequent  date,  declares  that  he  has  at  all  times  been  "  emphatically  against"  the 
Wilmot  Proviso. 


EDWARD   CARRINGTON   CABELL.  443 

the  very  time  they  were  condemning  the  Southern  Whigs  for 
having  voted  for  Mr.  Winthrop  ;  and  I  have  not  heard  a  suspi 
cion  expressed  that  Mr.  French  was  opposed  to  the  'Wilmot 
Proviso.' 

"  The  war  against  Mr.  Winthrop,  and  those  who  voted  for 
him,  has  been  renewed  at  the  South  because  of  his  late  vote  to 
refer  certain  abolition  petitions  to  one  of  the  standing  commit 
tees  of  the  House. 

"A  Whig  House  of  Representatives  (the  twenty-seventh 
Congress)  refused  to  repeal  a  rule  forbidding  the  reception  of 
abolition  petitions.  The  twenty-eighth  Congress,  having,  as  I 
am  informed,  about  seventy  Democratic  majority,  did  repeal 
this  rule.  On  the  10th  of  December,  1844  (see  House  Journal, 
second  session,  twenty-eighth  Congress,  page  48),  Mr.  Adams 
offered  a  petition  praying  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia.  On  the  question,  '  Shall  the  petition  be  received  ?' 
the  vote  stood,  yeas  107,  nays  81.  (Page  50.)  Among  the 
yeas  were  Messrs.  John  W.  Davis  and  R.  C.  Winthrop.  A  mo 
tion  to  lay  on  the  table  was  lost  (page  51).  The  petition  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  for  the  District  of  Columbia.  (Page 
52.)  These  petitions  continued  to  be  referred  to  the  commit 
tees  after  that  time.  In  the  present  House  of  Representatives, 
which  has  a  small  Whig  majority,  the  vote,  on  one  occasion, 
was  equally  divided,  and  made  the  vote  of  the  speaker  neces 
sary,  a  circumstance  which  never  occurred  with  the  twenty- 
eighth  Democratic  Congress,  in  which  these  petitions  were  re 
ferred  without  the  aid  of  the  speaker's  vote.  It  is  now  pre 
tended  that  '  Mr.  Winthrop's  vote  has  let  in  a  flood  of  abolition 
petitions'  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  country.  This  l  flood  was 
let  in'  by  the  vote  on  the  petition  presented  by  Mr.  Adams  in 
December,  1844,  for  the  reception  of  which  Mr.  Davis  voted,  as 
well  as  Mr.  Winthrop.  What  Democrat  refused  to  vote  for  Mr. 
Davis  after  this  vote?  None.  And  why  this  denunciation  of 
Mr.  Winthrop  ?  There  is  but  one  answer :  Mr.  Davis  is  a  Dem 
ocrat,  and  Mr. Winthrop  a  Whig!  Their  acts  are  the  same, 
but  their  offense  widely  different ! 

"  It  is  well  known  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  this  unholy 
purpose  to  stir  the  blood  and  exasperate  the  feelings  of  the  South 
on  this  delicate  subject  of  slavery,  that  the  object  of  the  Aboli 
tionists  can  be  obtained,  so  far  as  the  reference  of  their  petitions 


444  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

is  concerned,  without  a  vote  of  the  House,  simply  by  present 
ing  them  at  the  clerk's  table.  They  have  been  repeatedly  so 
referred.  This  is  the  course  approved  of  by  Mr.  Winthrop. 
The  committees  have  in  all  cases  reported  them  back  to  the 
House,  and  asked  to  be  discharged  from  their  consideration.  I, 
in  common  with  most  of  the  Southern  members,  have  opposed 
their  reference.  But  the  idea  that  the  reference  of  one  of  these 
petitions  to  a  committee  by  a  Whig  House  of  Representatives 
renders  our  slave  property  less  secure  than  the  same  reference 
which  had  frequently  been  made  by  a  Democratic  House,  is  too 
palpably  absurd  to  deserve  a  moment's  consideration. 

"The  new-born  zeal  of  the  Democratic  journals,  and  their 
hypocritical  cant  about  the  '  invasion  of  the  rights  of  the  South,' 
1  the  South  in  danger,'  and  such  stuff,  proceeds  from  no  pecu 
liar  devotion  to  the  South,  but  from  blind  partisan  feeling, 
which  makes  them  applaud  or  overlook  in  one  of  their  own  par 
ty  what  they  condemn  in  a  political  opponent. 

"  It  is  further  charged  that  the  Whigs  of  the  South,  in  vot 
ing  for  Mr.  Winthrop,  '  voted  for  an  Abolitionist?  I  am  not 
charitable  enough  to  believe  that  this  is  not  a  willful  misstate- 
ment.  These  journalists  know  such  not  to  be  the  fact. 

"  Mr.  Winthrop  is  opposed  to  the  further  extension  of  slavery. 
But  what  Southern  heart  does  not  beat  in  unison  with  the  fol 
lowing  patriotic  sentiment,  proposed  by  him  at  a  festival  in 
Fanueil  Hall,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1845  : 

"  '  Our  country :  bounded  by  the  St.  John's  and  the  Sabine, 
or  however  otherwise  bounded  or  described,  and  be  the  meas 
urements  more  or  less,  still  our  country — to  be  cherished  in  all 
our  hearts,  to  be  defended  by  all  our  hands.' 

"  I  shall  not  stop  to  defend  Mr.  Winthrop  against  this  mali 
cious  accusation.  Every  man  who  reads  knows  the  bitterness 
of  the  abolition  opposition  to  him  in  his  own  district.  The  Ab 
olitionists  in  the  House  of  Representatives  refused  to  vote  for 
him,  because,  in  their  opinion,  he  was  not  l  sound  on  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery.'  You  have  only  to  refer  to  any  abolition  paper 
of  late  date  to  find  it  filled  with  abusive  articles  of  Mr.  Win 
throp.  Northern  Abolitionists  and  Southern  Democrats  are 
equally  violent  in  their  denunciations  of  him  and  those  who 
voted  for  him. 

"  The  object  of  this  communication,  I  repeat,  is  not  to  make 


EDWARD   CARRINGTON    CABELL.  445 

an  apology  for  my  vote  for  Mr.  Winthrop — I  can  not  apologize 
for  doing  what  is  right — but  to  expose  the  hypocrisy  and  mis 
representations  of  Southern  Democratic  editors,  who  are  either 
willfully  or  ignorantly  misleading  the  honest  people  of  the  South. 
"  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"E.G.  CABELL." 


BOWLIN,   JAMES   BUTLER. 

JL  HIS  gentleman  was  born  in  the  county  of  Spottsylvania, 
Virginia,  in  the  year  1804.  His  parents,  who  were  poor,  but 
respectable,  removed  with  him  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  and 
settled  in  Harrisonburg,  Rockingham  county,  where  he  was 
brought  up  and  educated.  IJe  was  reared  a  mechanic,  but, 
having  obtained  a  common  school  education,  ordinarily  good, 
he  early  abandoned  his  trade,  and  for  some  years  alternately 
taught  and  went  to  school,  with  the  design  of  preparing  him 
self  for  the  bar.  In  the  latter  part  of  1825  he  removed  to 
Greenbrier  county,  Virginia.  He  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law  in  the  following  year,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the 
spring  of  1827.  For  six  years  he  practiced  in  the  courts  of 
Western  Virginia  with  a  reasonable  share  of  success  ;  but,  find 
ing  the  profession  too  crowded,  and  the  theater  of  action  too  small 
for  a  full  development  of  his  energy  of  character,  he  resolved 
upon  emigration  to  the  West.  In  September,  1833,  he  left 
Virginia,  and  on  the  19th  of  October  landed  at  St.  Louis, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  We  have  heard  him  speak  in 
terms  of  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  encouragement  and 
kindness  which  he  received  at  this  period  of  his  life  from  the  late 
Senator  Linn.  He  says :  "A  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  he 
extended  to  me  the  hand  of  fellowship  and  welcome,  encourag 
ed  me  by  his  counsels,  and  animated  me  by  the  buoyancy  of 
his  own  generous  heart." 

On  his  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  the  great  political  struggle  be 
tween  the  United  States  Bank  and  the  general  government  was 
at  its  height.  He  found  there  two  Whig  papers  supporting  the 
bank,  and  no  Democratic  paper  to  sustain  the  administration 
in  the  contest.  Unwilling  to  be  idle,  and  dreading  the  usual 
ordeal  through  which  young  attorneys  have  to  pass  in  a  strange 
place,  he  determined  upon  starting  a  paper,  and  employing  his 
leisure  time  in  sustaining  the  principles  upon  which  the  gov 
ernment  was  then  administered.  He  accordingly  purchased 
446 


JAMES   BUTLER   BOWLIN.  447 

an  old  press  and  types,  and  started,  in  the  last  week  of  Novem 
ber,  1833,  a  paper  called  "  The  Farmer's  and  Mechanic's  Ad 
vocate,"  which  became  the  foundation  of  a  permanent  Demo 
cratic  journal.  The  nerve  and  talent  with  which  he  conducted 
that  concern,  at  a  time  when  both  these  qualities  were  pecul 
iarly  demanded,  are  highly  spoken  of.  His  probation  was  mark 
ed  by  several  of  those  personal  collisions  and  encounters  which, 
in  early  times,  were  the  common  incidents  of  a  residence  in 
frontier  towns. 

In  November,  1834,  he  was  elected  chief  clerk  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  Missouri,  but  continued  to  write  for  his 
paper  until  it  changed  hands,  in  January,  1835,  and  became 
the  "  Missouri  Argus."  In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  returned 
from  the  seat  of  government,  and  devoted  himself,  with  unusual 
success,  to  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  the  spring  of  the 
following  year  he  was  nominated  to  the  Legislature  by  the 
Democratic  party.  Out  of  six  representatives  and  two  sena 
tors,  he  was  the  only  Democratic  candidate  elected  from  the 
county,  leading  his  own  ticket.  His  course  in  the  Legislature 
was  distinguished  by  energy,  industry,  and  devotion  to  the  great 
principles  of  public  liberty.  In  the  same  year  he  was  married 
to  Margaret  Virginia  Colburn,  daughter  of  a  widow  lady  of  St 
Louis.  In  the  spring  of  1837,  without  any  solicitation  on  his 
part,  he  was  appointed  district  attorney  for  St.  Louis ;  but,  find 
ing  that  the  office  interfered  too  much  with  his  practice,  he  re 
signed  it  in  about  six  weeks.  In  the  same  year  he  was  elected 
attorney  for  the  Bank  of  Missouri,  which  office  he  held  for  sev 
eral  years.  In  1838  he  was  again  nominated  by  his  party  for 
the  Legislature,  and,  after  one  of  the  fiercest  political  contests 
ever  witnessed  in  that  county,  the  whole  ticket  was  defeated. 

In  February,  1839,  he  was  elected,  by  both  branches  of  the 
Legislature,  judge  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  the  city  and  county 
of  St.  Louis.  At  the  period  of  his  election  to  the  bench,  St. 
Louis,  as  our  readers  will  recollect,  had  become  somewhat  no 
torious  for  its  mobs,  and  for  a  manifest  disposition  among  many 
to  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands.  In  his  first  charge  to 
the  grand  jury,  he  made  an  earnest  and  eloquent  appeal  to  that 
body  in  regard  to  this  evil,  demanding  that  the  supremacy  of 
the  laws  should  be  fearlessly  maintained  against  those  self-con 
stituted  tribunals  familiarly  known  as  "  Lynch  Courts." 


448  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

He  holds  this  language : 

"  There  is  another  subject,  gentlemen,  to  which  I  feel  bound 
to  call  your  attention,  and  I  do  it  with  regret,  not  from  any 
sympathy  for  these  offenders,  but  a  regret  that  the  barbarous 
and  inhuman  offense  should  be  found  to  exist  in  our  communi 
ty.  I  allude  to  combinations  and  conspiracies  to  invade  and 
trample  upon  the  rights  of  the  citizen,  and  subject  them  to  the 
most  excruciating  tortures  and  eternal  disgrace,  under  the  pre 
tense  of  executing  public  justice.  These  self-constituted  min 
isters  of  private  vengeance  pretend  to  be  acting  in  aid  of  those 
laws  which  they  are  trampling  under  foot,  and  whose  authority 
they  are  spurning  with  contempt.  This  practice  of  Lynching1 
has  grown  in  this  community  to  a  most  odious  and  alarming 
extent,  and  is  rapidly  approaching  to  that  crisis  when  no  man's 
life,  liberty,  or  honor  is  safe. 

"  It  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  to  read  in  the  daily  prints 
such  announcements  as  these :  Such  an  individual,  being  sus 
pected  of  larceny,  was  taken  out  by  a  party  of  men  and  un 
mercifully  scourged ;  or,  a  man  arrested  on  a  charge  of  felony, 
having  manifested  his  innocence,  was  discharged,  and  on  the 
same  night  dragged  from  his  house  and  scourged  until  his 
whole  body  was  completely  lacerated.  And  we  read  these 
things  and  wink  at  them,  and  still  flatter  ourselves  that  we 
live  in  the  land  of  religion,  liberty,  and  law.  Even  the  public 
press,  the  boasted  palladium  of  our  liberties,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  scourge  vice,  and  hold  it  up  to  view  in  all  its  deformity,  have 
ceased  to  comment  upon  these  scenes — scenes  that  would  put 
the  fancied  tortures  of  the  Inquisition  to  the  blush — and  in  the 
phrase  of  courtly  humility  to  the  violators  of  the  law,  tender 
its  announcement  to  the  public  as  a  banquet  of  news,  without 
comment,  without  condemnation. 

"  In  such  a  state  of  affairs,  where  is  the  unguarded  citizen 
to  look  for  the  protection  of  his  rights,  or  the  people  to  look  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  supremacy  and  dignity  of  the  laws  ? 
They  look  to  you,  gentlemen — to  the  tribunals  which  they  have 
established — for  ferreting  out  and  punishing  crime  ;  and  in 
the  exercise  of  your  functions  you  will  receive  their  counte 
nance  and  support.  They  will  give  you  aid  proportioned  in  its 
energy  to  the  love  they  bear  to  virtue,  morality,  and  the  insti 
tutions  of  their  country ;  and  we  have  the  proud  consolation  to 


JAMES   BUTLER   BOWLIN.  449 

know,  gentlemen,  that  our  destinies  are  cast  among  a  people 
who  have  intelligence  enough  to  appreciate  the  laws,  and  vir 
tue  and  integrity  to  see  them  executed  with  fidelity — a  law- 
respecting,  a  law-abiding  people.  And  if  there  are  persons  dis 
posed  to  do  violence  to  the  laws  they  have  contributed  to  estab 
lish  for  mutual  protection,  there  is  virtue  enough  in  the  re 
mainder  to  arraign  and  punish  them,  re-establish  the  suprem 
acy  of  the  violated  law,  and  present,  in  the  character  of  the  vi 
olator,  an  example  to  be  abhorred  and  shunned.  In  our  sys 
tem  of  government,  where  the  people  are  the  makers  and  the 
executors  of  the  laws,  every  thing  depends  upon  their  virtue 
and  intelligence  ;  and  whatever  has  a  tendency  to  promote  these 
ends,  has  a  direct  tendency  to  enhance  the  blessings  of  civil  lib 
erty.  If  those  to  whom  are  confided  the  administration  of  the 
laws,  close  their  eyes  to  the  most  wanton  violations,  to  scenes 
of  cruelty  that  are  more  characteristic  of  a  barbarous  age  than 
the  age  of  enlightened  freemen — until  the  citizen,  goaded  to  de 
spair,  is  forced  to  take  up  arms  for  the  security  of  those  rights 
against  mob  authority  for  which  the  prostrate  laws  afford  him 
no  protection — in  such  a  state  of  civil  society,  where  is  the  beau 
ty,  strength,  and  grandeur  of  the  republic  ?  But  we  will  not 
despair :  the  people  have  virtue,  intelligence,  and  energy ;  and 
while  there  is  virtue  and  intelligence  enough  in  the  community 
to  respect  the  laws  ordained  by  freemen  for  the  government  of 
themselves,  and  energy  enough  to  execute  them  without  fearr 
favor,  or  affection,  that  community  has  a  higher  security  for 
the  protection  of  her  rights  than  walls  of  brass  could  afford  her. 
The  integrity  of  her  electors  and  juries  is  her  brightest  shield. 

"But,  gentlemen,  aside  from  the  demoralizing  influence  of 
such  scenes,  the  most  novel  and  dangerous  characteristic  of  this 
new  tribunal  is,  that  innocence,  instead  of  being  a  shield,  is  but 
the  foundation  of  accusation  and  punishment.  Indeed,  gentle 
men,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  the  very  groundwork  of  the 
odious  system  to  punish  those  against  whom  they  can  not  array 
legal  proof  of  crime.  The  humane  principles  of  law,  as  well  as 
of  sound  morality,  presuming  all  men  innocent  until  the  con 
trary  appears,  it  resolves  itself  simply  to  this,  that  this  new  tri 
bunal  is  established  to  punish  innocence  and  glut  private  ven 
geance.  If  a  party  accused  is  found  to  be  guilty,  he  is  conde 
scendingly,  by  this  tribunal,  turned  over  to  you,  the  constitu- 

VOL.  I.— F  F 


450  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

ted  authorities  of  the  country  ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  he  dares 
to  manifest  to  the  world  his  innocence,  it  is  then  he  is  to  be 
dragged  from  his  habitation,  under  the  silent  cover  of  night, 
and  subjected  to  the  torture  and  the  scourge :  and  this  is  done 
under  the  feigned  pretense  that  the  law  is  not  sufficient  for  the 
purposes  of  public  justice.  In  conclusion,  gentlemen,  it  is  with 
you  to  say  whether  the  annals  of  our  fair  country  are  to  be 
stained  by  a  repetition  of  these  outrages  upon  community ; 
whether  the  authority  of  the  laws  are  longer  to  be  spurned 
with  contempt;  or  whether  you  will,  by  a  faithful  discharge 
of  your  duties,  wipe  the  foul  blot  from  the  pages  of  your  coun 
try's  history,  and  re-establish  the  supremacy  of  law,  order,  and 
morality." 

This  charge  raised  a  violent  storm  against  the  judge,  but  the 
press  and  the  better-thinking  portion  of  the  people  rallied  to  his 
support ;  a  number  of  the  offending  parties  were  indicted,  and 
the  growth  of  the  evil  was  checked.  He  entered  upon  the  du 
ties  of  his  official  station  amid  a  storm  of  political  prejudices ; 
and  he  resigned  the  office  three  years  afterward  amid  the  re 
grets  of  the  whole  community,  as  well  political  foe  as  political 
friend. 

In  June,  1842,  ex-President  Van  Buren,  in  his  tour  through 
the  West,  visited  St.  Louis  upon  the  invitation  of  the  citizens, 
irrespective  of  party.  A  brilliant  reception  was  given  to  him. 
Mr.  Bowlin  delivered  the  address,  welcoming  the  distinguished 
visitor,  and  tendering  him  the  hospitalities  of  the  city.  The 
following  brief  paragraph  from  one  of  the  public  journals  gives 
some  account  of  the  scene  : 

"  The  remarks  of  Judge  Bowlin,  and  the  proof  that  he  spoke 
the  real  feelings  of  the  citizens,  which  was  given  by  the  re 
peated  plaudits  of  the  vast  concourse,  must  have  been  highly 
gratifying  to  the  city's  guest.  The  street  in  front  of  the  Plant 
er's  House,  for  the  distance  of  nearly  the  whole  square,  was 
densely  thronged  by  spectators,  anxious  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the 
ex-President,  and  to  hear  the  remarks  made  on  the  occasion. 
The  windows  of  the  hotel  were  filled  with  ladies,  who  manifest 
ed  the  interest  they  felt  in  the  festivities  of  the  day  by  the 
waving  of  handkerchiefs  during  the  cheers  of  the  crowd  in  the 
street." 

In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Bowlin  was  nominated  by  the  State 


JAMES  BUTLER  BOWLIN.         451 

Convention  of  Missouri  as  a  candidate  for  Congress,  and  in  the 
following  August  was  triumphantly  elected,  upon  the  general 
ticket  system,  a  member  of  the  twenty-eighth  Congress.  Since 
then  he  has  been  successively  chosen  to  represent  the  same  dis 
trict  in  the  twenty-ninth  and  thirtieth  Congress. 

Up  to  the  date  of  his  first  election  in  1842,  the  State  of  Mis 
souri,  under  Democratic  rule,  had  set  her  face  steadfastly  against 
banks  and  banking.  She  had  one  small  bank,  under  stringent 
restrictions ;  but  the  general  character  of  her  currency  had  con 
tinued  to  be  specie,  except  in  the  commercial  metropolis,  where 
the  paper  of  other  states  had  obtained  a  considerable  circula 
tion.  After  the  general  downfall  of  the  banks  in  1837,  the 
practice  of  pushing  all  kinds  of  depreciated  or  worthless  paper 
into  this  state,  to  monopolize  the  produce  of  the  country,  rap 
idly  increased,  until  it  is  represented  to  have  become  an  intol 
erable  burden  upon  the  agricultural  interests.  The  modus  op- 
erandi  was  for  capitalists  at  the  commercial  metropolis  to  bor 
row  large  amounts  of  this  paper,  give  it  character  by  redeem 
ing  it  until  it  all  got  out  into  the  rich  produce  of  the  country, 
then  declare  it  no  longer  redeemable,  and  let  it  go  down  in  the 
hands  of  the  laboring  and  productive  classes. 

To  counteract  this  serious  evil,  the  Democratic  party  array 
ed  itself  against  the  introduction  of  such  paper  into  the  state, 
and  demanded  legislative  restriction  against  it.  The  Legisla 
ture,  at  the  session  of  1838-9,  made  a  vigorous  effort  to  pass 
the  first  "  Currency  Bill,"  as  it  was  called,  but  it  was  defeated 
by  the  defection  of  a  few  Democrats  in  the  Senate.  The  evil 
continued  and  increased,  until,  at  a  subsequent  session  of  the 
Legislature,  the  Democratic  party  passed  a  bill  which  put  a 
decided  check  upon  it. 

During  all  the  fierce  conflicts  of  political  opinions  upon  this 
Currency  Question,  and  the  defections  which  resulted  from 
them,  Mr.  Bowlin  was  a  leading  advocate  in  the  commercial 
metropolis  of  currency  reforms,  and,  of  course,  became  the  pe 
culiar  object  of  denunciation  and  abuse ;  but  he  maintained  his 
position  with  unyielding  firmness. 

Although  the  people  had,  at  the  August  election  of  1842, 
chosen  an  overwhelming  majority  of  Democrats  in  favor  of  cur 
rency  reform,  yet,  upon  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  in  No 
vember,  it  was  discovered  that  a  considerable  defection  in  the 


452  HISTORY  OF    CONGRESS. 

ranks  had  in  the  interval  taken  place.  The  party  seemed  to 
be  upon  the  verge  of  an  open  betrayal  into  the  hands  of  their 
opponents,  when  an  able  and  powerful  article,  under  the  title 
of  "  the  War  begun,"  exposed  and  checked  the  intrigues  that 
were  going  on,  and,  by  threatening  a  personal  exposure  of  the 
parties  who  stood  ready  to  betray  their  constituents,  caused 
many  of  them  to  pause,  reflect,  and  fall  back  upon  their  prin 
ciples.  This  article  was  immediately  followed  by  the  introduc 
tion  into  the  Democratic  Association  of  St.  Louis,  by  Judge 
Bowlin,  of  a  series  of  resolutions,  declaring  the  abstract  princi 
ples  of  the  Democratic  party  upon  the  currency,  which,  though 
denounced  by  the  press,  and  contested  inch  by  inch  in  the  as 
sociation,  and  finally  voted  down,  were  every  where  received, 
and  warmly  approved,  by  the  democracy  of  the  state.  They 
were  in  the  following  words : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Independent  Treasury  system,  as  de 
signed  in  the  political  philosophy  of  the  patriot  Jefferson,  and 
established  under  Mr.  Van  Buren's  administration  for  the  first 
time,  summarily  repealed  during  the  first  months  of  Federal 
supremacy,  is  the  only  safe,  proper,  and  constitutional  mode  of 
collecting,  keeping,  and  disbursing  the  public  moneys ;  and  we 
cordially  approve  now,  as  we  have  done  on  all  former  occasions, 
that  feature  of  the  act  which  limited  the  receipts  and  disburse 
ments  of  the  treasury,  ultimately,  to  the  constitutional  curren 
cy  of  gold  and  silvejr. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  war  which  the  democracy  of  the  na 
tion  have  been  for  years  waging  against  the  United  States 
Bank,  and  which  has  ended  in  the  exposure  and  destruction  of 
that  most  corrupt  and  profligate  institution,  was  a  war,  not 
against  that  bank  alone,  but  against  the  corruptions  of,  and 
abuses  practiced  under,  our  banking  and  paper-money  system ; 
and  they  will  not  now,  after  having  proceeded  thus  far  in  the 
good  work,  lay  down  their  arms,  until  those  corruptions  and 
abuses  are  corrected,  or  the  system,  if  past  all  cure,  eradicated. 

"Resolved,  That  we  deprecate  the  attempt  to  charter  any 
new  banking  institutions  any  where,  or  to  give  new  privileges 
and  immunities  to  those  already  in  existence,  believing  that 
there  are  already  in  the  country  more  than  enough  to  secure 
all  proper  ends  for  which  such  institutions  are  created. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  approve  of  the  invincible  firmness  of 


JAMES  BUTLER  BOWLIN.         453 

the  nineteen  Democratic  senators  in  the  State  of  Missouri  who 
have  voted  down  the  proposition  to  authorize  the  Bank  of  the 
State  of  Missouri  to  issue  five  dollar  notes,  believing  that  such 
a  measure  is  calculated  to  retard  the  progress  of  Democratic 
reform,  to  exclude  the  precious  metals  from  the  country,  to 
stimulate  the  bank  to  excessive  issues,  and  to  hold  out  a  pros 
pect  of  relief  to  the  indebted  which  is  altogether  illusory. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  necessary,  for  the  purification  of  our 
currency,  that  the  shinplaster  issues  from  foreign  states  should 
be  excluded  from  our  state,  so  that  all  the  smaller  channels  of 
circulation  should  be  filled  with  gold  and  silver ;  and  we  ear 
nestly  recommend  to  our  Legislature,  now  in  session,  to  adopt 
measures  to  restrain  the  circulation  of  notes  of  a  less  denom 
ination  than  those  issued  by  our  own  bank." 

The  advocates  of  these  resolutions  were  denounced  as  "Hards," 
in  allusion  to  their  being  the  supporters  of  a  hard-money  cur 
rency,  while  they  retorted  upon  their  assailants  the  title  of 
"  Softs,"  in  allusion  to  their  being  the  vindicators  of  "shinplas- 
ters,"  as  they  were  called.  These  titles  spread  throughout  the 
state,  and  distinctly  marked  political  parties.  It  was  the  pol 
icy  of  the  "  Hards"  to  keep  open  the  discussion,  and  of  the 
"  Softs"  to  smother  it.  The  former  succeeded  in  keeping  up  a 
weekly  discussion  for  several  months,  until  the  resolutions  had 
done  their  work,  when,  at  a  meager  meeting  of  the  association, 
not  a  fourth  of  its  members  being  present,  the  "  Softs,"  it  is 
asserted,  were  permitted  to  perpetrate  a  political  suicide  by 
voting  them  down. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Legislature  had  passed  the  Currency 
Bill,  and  refused  to  permit  the  bank  to  issue  small  notes,  thus, 
in  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Bowlin,  devising  a  sovereign  remedy 
for  the  evil,  and  putting  a  final  seal  upon  Softism  and  its  ad 
vocates.  The  "  Softs,"  however,  did  not  disband,  but  kept  up 
their  party  distinction,  and  in  1844  made  a  ticket  for  Con 
gress,  which  was  jointly  supported  by  them  and  the  Whigs, 
and  suffered  an  overwhelming  defeat,  when  "  Softism"  was  lit 
erally  blotted  out  in  every  part  of  the  state  save  St.  Louis. 
Here  they  kept  up  a  partial  organization  for  the  district  elec 
tion  of  1846,  when  they  put  a  third  candidate  in  the  field.  Mr. 
Bowlin  triumphed  by  a  large  majority  over  the  united  vote  of 
his  competitors.  With  this  victory  in  the  strong-hold  of  "  Soft 
ism,"  the  parties  again  became  united. 


454  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

On  his  election  to  the  twenty-eighth  Congress,  his  name  was 
pressed  by  many  of  his  friends,  and  taken  up  by  many  of  the 
leading  papers  of  the  West,  as  candidate  for  speaker.  Bat, 
upon  his  arrival  at  Washington,  finding  that  there  was  no  fixed 
determination  to  bestow  the  speakership  on  the  West,  and  that, 
in  the  conflict  between  him  and  his  most  worthy  and  success 
ful  competitor  from  that  region,  John  W.  Davis,  of  Indiana, 
its  claim  would  be  hazarded,  Mr.  Bowlin  promptly  retired. 

Representing,  in  part,  one  of  the  states  which  had  failed,  or 
refused  to  comply  with  the  law  of  Congress  requiring  elections 
to  be  held  by  single  districts,  the  right  of  Mr.  Bowlin  to  a  seat, 
like  the  right  of  all  the  other  members  from  the  non-complying 
states,  was  challenged  on  the  first  day  of  the  session.  [See 
title,  HOWELL  COBB.]  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  claims  and 
rights  of  the  State  of  Missouri  on  that  occasion  suffered  no  det 
riment  in  his  hands. 

At  an  early  period  of  the  session,  he  gave  evidence  of  that  zeal 
in  behalf  of  the  interests  of  the  West  which  has  marked  his 
whole  course  in  Congress,  especially  with  reference  to  the  nav 
igation  of  its  rivers.  He  argued  that  these  rivers  being  of  na 
tional  importance,  the  government  was  called  upon  with  as 
much  justice  to  make  improvements  on  the  shores  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  as  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic.  He  spoke  of  the  great 
extent  of  coast  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  of  the  rich  and 
fertile  lands,  whose  products  were  transmitted  to  market  through 
that  channel ;  of  the  great  number  of  steam-boats  employed  in 
navigating  those  waters ;  of  the  extent  of  their  tonnage,  and 
the  large  number  that  were  annually  sacrificed  on  the  unre- 
moved  snags,  with  the  value  of  the  property  thus  lost.  "  The 
history  of  the  world,"  he  said,  "  presented  no  example  of  an 
amount  of  destruction  of  property  and  loss  of  life  equal  to  that 
which  was  yearly  occurring  on  the  rivers  of  the  West.  When 
they  heard  of  a  disaster  upon  the  Atlantic,  they  were  naturally 
shocked ;  but  disasters  upon  the  Western  rivers  had  become  so 
common,  that  they  were  announced  in  the  newspapers  merely 
as  the  ordinary  occurrences  of  the  day.  They  ivere  not  even 
announced  as  calamities" 

He  was  the  early  friend  of  Texas  and  Oregon.  He  hailed 
the  admission  of  the  former  into  the  Union  with  delight,  and 
he  saw  the  scepter  of  the  latter  depart  from  our  grasp  with  feel- 


JAMES   BUTLER   BOWLIN.  455 

ings  of  unmitigated  regret.  Believing,  to  use  his  own  language, 
that  "  it  was  a  question  of  right  on  one  side  and  bold  preten 
sion  on  the  other — of  clear  title  on  the  one  hand  and  mere  pre 
text  on  the  other,"  he  stood  boldly  up  with  that  small  minority 
of  his  own  party  who,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  demand 
ed  the  occupation  of  the  territory  to  the  full  line  of  54°  40'.  [See 
title,  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS.] 

He  has  at  all  times  exerted  himself  to  engraft  the  graduation 
and  reduction  principles  upon  the  land  system  of  the  United 
States,  and  has  vindicated  and  expounded  Western  interests 
with  a  clear  and  comprehensive  perception  of  the  great  results 
which  depended  upon  them.  Among  the  more  local  concerns 
to  which  his  attention  has  been  directed,  we  particularly  notice 
the  erection  of  a  marine  hospital  at  or  near  St.  Louis. 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  say  that  he  has  voted  with  a  ready 
hand  all  the  appropriations  for  the  Mexican  war,  at  the  same  time 
defending  the  proceedings  of  the  President,  who,  he  said,  "  had 
done  nothing  but  what  he  was  bound  to  do  by  the  most  solemn 
obligations  of  patriotism."  To  sustain  this  war,  he  was  willing, 
when  the  bill  to  raise  additional  revenue  was  under  considera 
tion,  to  vote  for  a  tax  on  tea  and  coffee ;  and  he  recorded  his 
name  in  opposition  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso. 

Upon  the  return  of  Colonel  Doniphan's  regiment  of  Missouri 
Volunteers  in  1847,  from  their  perilous  march  through  Mexi 
co,  crowned  with  a  succession  of  brilliant  achievements,  the  cit 
izens  of  St.  Louis  determined  to  give  them  a  reception  worthy 
of  their  gallant  deeds.  Neither  expense  nor  labor  was  spared 
in  making  the  reception  a  magnificent  affair.  On  this  occasion, 
Judge  Bowlin  was  selected  by  his  fellow-citizens  to  deliver  the 
speech,  welcoming  them  back  to  their  homes  from  the  dangers 
and  turmoils  of  a  perilous  campaign,  and  tendering  them  the 
hospitalities  of  the  city.  In  the  discharge  of  this  duty,  he  deliv 
ered  an  address,  breathing  the  noblest  sentiments  of  patriotism, 
which  was  repeatedly  interrupted  by  the  plaudits  of  the  immense 
concourse  of  citizens  and  soldiers.  He  bade  them  a  warm  and 
hearty  welcome  back  to  their  cherished  homes  in  the  name  of 
a  city  proud  of  her  identity  with  their  gallant  achievements. 
He  assured  them  that  they  were  performing  no  idle  ceremony, 
but  tendering  them  the  spontaneous  homage  due  to  their  patri 
otism,  their  valor,  and  their  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  their 


456  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

country.  He  told  them  that,  as  their  countrymen,  the  people 
of  the  state  felt  proud  in  sharing  that  halo  of  glory  which  their 
gallant  deeds  had  thrown  around  the  name  of  the  "Missouri 
Volunteers" — a  title  they  had  "  baptized  with  their  blood,  and 
laureled  with  brilliant  victories." 

He  presented  them  with  the  most  glowing  picture  of  their 
country,  her  prosperity,  and  her  brilliant  victories  achieved  at 
other  points,  while  they  were  literally  buried  for  nearly  a  year 
amid  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  Mexico.  He  then  went  into 
a  detail  of  their  own  most  extraordinary  march,  with  its  battles, 
its  perils,  its  dangers,  and  its  privations,  and  concluded  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  In  conclusion,  I  again  bid  you  welcome  to  the  shores  of  our 
own  Missouri — welcome  to  her  proud  and  favored  city — wel 
come  to  the  hospitality  of  her  people — welcome  to  all  that  a  gen 
erous  and  chivalrous  heart  casts  at  the  shrine  of  valor — welcome 
to  the  homage  due  to  the  brave — welcome  to  our  hearths  and 
our  hearts." 


.*•:•-•*  :?*:>  i;  k4&k£j£r(;:*5re& 


tble  .ei; 


other 


I     .,: 

-oher, 

IStfO.  ^rt  of  the 

«|8f1to.    .In  .Februa..  *c<i  an  office- at  Brock - 

ii  a,  ih riving  v'u  iBoQ,  county,  \Wiere  h«  still 

-.  .tin  foviud  bkaseii  wi  the  prosecution  <  >f  ;  *•  aoo^i^. 
;ve  practicex  io  whiph  he  gave  his  per«oiAl  9*t*J*- 
'  n  id^^w^  married  to  Maria,  fougfae*  «* 
- 1  «kj  •  =  •  •.      He  lias  two  »>iw  aaii  -V^K;  i1*^^ 
R  time  fee  liad  rnado  iar^e  « 
rfftt estate,  a*  well  as  u*  *#    • 
</    yar^Jiiitte^J  i 

L__  ^^^^, 

he  therefore  entered  into  a  partnership  by  which  he  was  reliev- 

457 


458  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

ed  from  the  necessity  of  giving  his  personal  attention  to  the  bu 
siness  of  his  profession.  He  was  thus  restored  to  a  state  of 
comfortable  health.  In  the  year  1844  he  was  nominated  as 
representative  from  the  twenty-eighth  district,  comprising  the 
county  of  Monroe,  and  was  elected  by  a  strong  majority  to  the 
twenty-ninth  Congress.  Of  that  body  he  was  not  a  speaking 
member,  but,  like  many  of  the  best,  though  least-known  men 
in  the  national  councils,  a  working  member,  uniformly  in  his 
seat,  and  scrupulously  attentive  to  the  business  of  the  House. 
He  belongs  to  the  Whig  party,  whose  confidence  he  enjoys,  and 
whose  principles  he  maintains  and  defends. 

As  an  exception  to  the  generally  silent  votes  which  he  has  giv 
en  on  matters  of  public  concern,  we  note  a  speech  delivered  in 
the  House,  developing  his  views  on  the  causes  and  policy  of  the 
Mexican  war,  and  which  is  understood  to  have  been  so  accepta 
ble  to  his  constituents  as  to  have  contributed  to  his  re-election, 
by  a  largely-increased  majority,  to  the  thirtieth  Congress.  He 
had  voted  in  favor  of  the  act  of  the  13th  of  May,  declaring  the 
existence  of  a  state  of  war  with  Mexico  ;  first,  however,  having 
endeavored  in  vain  to  introduce  an  amendment  to  the  first  sec 
tion,  declaring  that  its  provisions  should  not  be  "  deemed  to  ap 
ply  to  that  portion  of  the  country  west  and  south  of  the  River 
Nueces,  except  so  far  as  to  withdraw,  and,  if  need  be,  to  rescue 
our  army  from  the  region  of  the  Rio  Grande."  [See  title, 
ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP.]  Some  weeks  subsequent  to  this  vote, 
he  found  opportunity  to  explain  his  reasons  for  the  course  he 
had  taken.  He  believes  the  war  to  have  been,  from  the  outset, 
wantonly  provoked  and  unconstitutionally  commenced.  Refer 
ring  to  the  vote  he  had  given,  he  says : 

"  Our  army  was  in  peril.  The  last  that  we  heard  from  them 
was,  that  a  part  of  them  were  prisoners  of  war,  and  the  balance 
were  short  of  provisions,  and  surrounded  by  ten  thousand  Mex 
icans.  Whether  they  had  been  relieved,  had  relieved  them 
selves,  or  at  that  moment  were  prisoners  of  war,  on  their  way 
to  the  City  of  Mexico,  was  not  known.  I  was  for  protection, 
and,  if  need  be,  for  rescue  at  all  hazards.  Fifty  thousand  vol 
unteers  and  ten  millions  of  money  were  asked  for  by  the  Pres 
ident.  In  my  judgment,  this  was  necessary,  if  our  army  had 
been  captured.  I  could  not,  by  any  act  of  the  majority,  be 
prevented  from  voting  for  those  supplies  and  succor ;  when  the 


ELIAS   BELLOWS   HOLMES.  459 

majority  tacked  on  the  preamble,  with  a  view  to  make  political 
capital  and  shield  the  President,  I  still  determined  to  vote  the 
aid  which  I  desired  to  grant,  and  content  myself  with  protest 
ing  against  that  portion  of  the  bill,  the  phraseology  of  which  I 
could  not  prevent,  but  which  I  did  not  approve,  as  false  and 
deceptive.  In  despite  of  your  gag,  I  did  so.  The  gentleman 
from  Virginia  (Mr.  Dromgoole)  took  occasion,  on  this  floor,  to 
allude  to  this,  and  declared  that  the  vote  for  this  war  bill  would 
live  when  the  protest  shall  have  been  forgotten,  and  tauntingly 
exclaimed,  *  I  envy  not  the  man  who  will  vote  for  the  affirm 
ance  of  falsehood,  and  then  openly  proclaim  the  same.' 

"  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Holmes,  "  I  can  truly  tell  the  honorable  gen 
tleman  that  he  need  not  *  envy'  the  man  who,  for  political  effect, 
is  forced  to  have  his  feelings  of  morality  and  of  patriotism  weigh 
ed  in  the  balance — pitted  against  each  other.  He  need  not 
'envy'  the  man  who,  in  a  great  crisis,  takes  the  pill,  made  un 
necessarily  bitter,  which  he  loathes,  for  the  sake  of  the  good, 
which  he  desires.  Nor  need  he,  with  all  due  deference  allow 
me  to  say,  'envy'  the  man  charged  with  the  duty  of  writing 
the  secret  political  history  of  that  day.  No  man  need  envy  his 
mousing  toil  in  learning  the  names  of  public  functionaries  and 
their  allies  holding  Texas  debts  and  Texas  scrip  for  land  lo 
cated  and  unlocated,  nor  his  midnight  care  in  depicting  the  cu 
pidity  which  could  not  find  land  enough  within  the  bounds  of 
Texas  proper  to  satisfy  its  desires,  but  must  by  the  sword  sub 
jugate  sixty  thousand  of  the  citizens  of  a  neighboring  republic, 
and  appropriate  the  soil,  thus  desecrated  with  human  blood,  to 
satisfy  its  sordid  appetite. 

"  When  all  the  secret  springs  and  motives  of  men  shall  have 
been  brought  to  view,  when  the  minute  details  of  this  gross  in 
iquity  shall  have  been  placed  in  letters  of  living  light  upon  the 
page  of  history,  the  world  will  be  astonished  at  the  consumma 
tion  of  the  scheme  which  was  thus  protested ;  and  if,  perchance, 
as  the  honorable  gentleman  says,  the  protest  shall  have  escaped 
the  historian,  and  lie  buried  in  oblivion,  as  search  in  vain  is 
made  therefor,  the  astonishment  will  be  increased  by  the 
thought  that  no  one  rose  in  his  place,  of  that  whole  number,  to 
protest  against  the  governmental  sanction  of  such  iniquities." 

"It  is  alleged  upon,  this  floor,  that  to  declare  one's  self  for 
the  war,  and  to  speak  against  the  present  administration  of  this 


460  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

government,  is  an  absurdity ;  that,  while  he  pretends  to  go  for 
it,  he  goes  against  it,  by  weakening  the  moral  power  of  the 
government. 

"  I  had  supposed  the  moral  power  of  the  government,  so  far 
as  these  functionaries  could  wield  it,  had  been  expended ;  and 
that  now,  moral  suasion  proving  inefficient,  we  had  determined 
to  try  the  physical  force  of  the  country.  It  is  termed  a  kind 
of  moral  treason  to  speak  against  the  present  administration. 
What !  treason  to  speak  of  the  manner  in  which  this  moral 
power  has  been  exerted,  and  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  ne 
cessity  of  resorting  to  force  against  a  sister  republic !  It  may 
be  treason  to  the  party.  It  may  be  counter  to  the  edicts  of  the 
executive  to  have  any  of  its  votaries  call  any  of  its  acts  to  the 
attention  of  the  people.  Such  may  not  do  it.  But  shall  the  mo 
tives  of  those  who  do  not  bend  the  pliant  knee  to  power,  and 
tamely  submit  to  executive  usurpation,  be  called  in  question  ? 
charged  with  opposition  to  the  country  ?  Is  this  the  freedom 
of  your  boasted  institutions  ?  Sir,  it  is  because  I  am  in  favor 
of  the  country  that  I  am  endeavoring  to  show  how  its  moral 
power  has  been  polluted,  paralyzed,  and  perverted  by  the  con 
duits  through  which  it  has  passed.  I  do  it  with  no  personal  or 
vindictive  feelings,  but  in  view  of  a  solemn  duty  imposed  upon 
me  as  a  representative,  and  in  the  hope  that  the  people  will  see 
the  necessity  of  rising  in  their  might,  and  exerting,  with  effi 
ciency  and  effect,  the  moral  power  which  has  fallen  stillborn 
from  the  hands  of  the  executive. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  morality  of  the  sentiment  uttered  by 
my  friend  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Delano),  that  in  time  of  war  he  was 
for  his  country,  right  or  wrong,  has  been  questioned  in  this  hall, 
I  reiterate  it.  I  hope  the  moral  sense  of  gentlemen  will  stand 
the  shock  when  I  tell  them  I  am  for  my  country,  any  way  and 
always,  right  or  wrong.  In  all  time,  under  all  circumstances, 
in  prosperity  or  in  adversity,  in  peace  or  in  war,  in  every  re 
spect  which  ingenuity  can  invent  or  imagination  conceive,  I 
am  for  my  country,  right  or  wrong.  Sir,  I  am  for  my  children, 
right  or  wrong.  My  duty  impels  me  to  chide  and  rebuke  them 
when  wrong ;  but  to  be  for  them,  and  feel  for  them,  and  to  act 
for  their  prosperity,  happiness,  and  protection,  whether  right 
or  wrong,  is  a  feeling  interwoven  with  the  very  ligaments  of 
my  nature.  In  this  same  sense  I  am  for  my  country,  right  or 


ELIAS   BELLOWS   HOLMES.  461 

wrong ;  freely  reproving  her  public  functionaries  when  wrong, 
and  holding  up  their  constitutional  aggressions  and  their  legis 
lative  oppressions  to  the  just  judgment  of  the  people.  And 
now,  sir,  at  this  moment,  in  view  of  my  sense  of  duty,  impell 
ed  only  by  that,  I  hold  up  the  President  of  the  United  States 
as  having  transgressed  the  rules  of  propriety  and  justice,  and 
violated  the  Constitution,  in  ordering  the  army  on  to  the  left 
bank  of  the  Rio  Grande ;  in  ousting  the  Mexican  civil  author 
ities  from  the  exercise  of  their  accustomed  duties  and  the  col 
lection  of  their  revenue  ;  in  erecting  batteries,  and  pointing  our 
cannon  in  solemn  defiance  at  a  Mexican  city ;  in  allowing,  with 
out  inquiry,  soldiers,  in  time  of  peace,  to  be  shot,  without  the 
form  of  trial ;  in  blockading,  in  time  of  profound  peace,  in  vio 
lation  of  solemn  treaty  stipulations,  the  city  of  a  sister  repub 
lic,  and  cutting  off  its  supplies,  thereby  reducing  to  famine  and 
death  its  citizens  and  soldiers.  I  wish  I  could  array  in  a  mir 
ror  of  burning  light  before  the  people,  the  Constitution,  which 
says,  Congress  alone  shall  have  power  to  declare  war  and  di 
rect  acts  of  hostilities — its  broken  fragments,  the  author  of  its 
violated  condition,  and  his  abettors.  I  would  point  to  these  ex 
ecutive  usurpations,  and  to  the  uncalled-for  intolerance  and  op 
pression  of  this  House. 

"Sir,. the  Constitution  guaranties  the  liberty  of  speech  and 
of  the  press ;  but  on  the  llth  of  May,  where  was  the  boasted 
prerogative  of  our  Constitution  in  relation  to  the  liberty  of 
speech  ?  Where  this  inestimable  prerogative  of  freedom  ?  Its 
death-knell  was  heard  in  this  hall.  The  lips  of  the  six  thou 
sand  farmers,  the  four  thousand  mechanics,  and  the  hundreds 
of  manufacturers  and  professional  men  speaking  through  me 
upon  this  floor,  were  sealed  in  silence.  The  vivid  and  con 
scious  convictions  of  an  outraged  people  were  stifled,  and  denied 
an  utterance.  The  minority  on  this  floor,  representing,  as  ap 
pears  by  the  popular  vote,  a  majority  of  the  people,  were  denied 
the  right  of  speech.  The  grave  and  momentous  question  of 
peace  or  war,  involving  the  life,  the  liberty  of  our  people,  and  the 
happiness  of  our  common  country,  was  pressed  upon  us  with 
out  debate.  The  imprudent  acts  of  the  President,  as  well  as 
the  perilous  condition  of  our  army,  their  cries  and  their  blood 
by  reason  of  this  imprudence,  were  made  known  to  us,  and  yet 
not  one  word  could  be  said  upon  the  subject.  The  shield  of  se- 


462  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

crecy  was  thrust  between  us  and  the  country.  The  full  and 
speedy  relief  which  we  were  willing  to  grant  to  the  army  and 
the  country  was  coupled  with  a  shield  for  the  President  and 
his  advisers,  and  a  declaration  of  war.  I  ask  whether  such  pre 
cipitancy  in  declaring  a  national  war,  in  breaking  the  peace  of 
the  world,  is  becoming  in  the  representatives  of  this  people? 
Is  it  wise,  and  does  it  become  the  dignity  and  forbearance  which 
should  characterize  enlightened  and  benevolent  freemen  ?  Is  it 
magnanimous  or  just  thus  to  stifle  debate  ? 

"  The  history  of  Rome  produces  no  Republican  despotism 
more  oppressive  or  dangerous  to  liberty  than  the  tyranny  we 
have  seen  manifested  in  this  hall. 

"  I  protest  against  this  blind,  infatuated  registry  of  executive 
edicts ;  this  despotic  restriction  of  inquiry  into  official  misrule  ; 
this  adoption  and  concealment  of  the  broken  fragments  of  our 
fundamental  code,  as  subversive  of  liberty.  I  am  constrained 
to  point  to  these  enormities  in  defense  of  liberty  itsejf." 

Speaking  of  his  own  people,  he  says : 

"  While  they  are  all  ready  as  one  man  to  sustain  the  honor 
of  the  country,  and  to  meet  danger  from  without,  they  will  be 
equally  fearless,  and  ready  to  meet  internal  abuse  and  oppres 
sion.  They  are  ready  to  maintain  the  just  rights  of  the  coun 
try  at  every  sacrifice,  but  they  are  not  for  the  annihilation  or 
conquest  of  a  sister  republic.  I  inquire,  sir,  and  they  will  in 
quire,  when  and  how  this  war  is  to  terminate  ?  Whether  it  is 
to  be  prosecuted  only  for  a  just  and  magnanimous  peace,  or  for 
the  purposes  of  aggression,  plunder,  and  conquest  ?  If  the  lat 
ter,  they  will  not  sanction,  but  will  fearlessly  and  freely  con 
demn  it.  They  are  willing  to  leave  the  progress  of  Republican 
principles  on  this  continent,  and  throughout  the  world,  to  the 
sure  operations  of  truth — to  the  germ  from  which  springs  the 
tree  of  liberty — until  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  recline 
under  the  branches  of  that  tree,  irradiated  by  the  smiles  of 
peace ;  but  they  are  not  in  favor  of  coercing  an  adherence  to 
Republican  institutions  by  the  sword  !  Prior  Republics  have 
done  this,  and,  by  reason  of  it,  the  historian  is  relieved  from  his 
task  in  regard  to  them. 

"  When  and  where  this  state  of  things  is  to  end,  God  only 
knows.  If  our  rulers  are  determined,  as  they  now  seem,  upon 
annihilation  and  conquest,  and  the  people  shall  sanction  it,  this 


ELIAS   BELLOWS   HOLMES.  463 

is  but  the  twilight  of  the  political  darkness  that  must  succeed 
it.  To  my  mind,  the  day  when  the  people  of  this  republic  shall 
fully  sanction  the  subjugation  and  conquest  of  a  foreign  nation, 
dissimilar  from  us  in  language,  habits,  and  laws,  will  be  the 
darkest,  by  far  the  darkest  day  ever  witnessed  by  this  republic." 
In  all  his  various  business  operations  Mr.  Holmes  has  been 
signally  successful.  He  has  realized  the  ancient  fable — every 
thing  he  touched  has  turned  into  gold ;  and  it  is  remarked  of 
him,  that  while  others  may  possess  larger  estates,  real  and  per 
sonal,  his  capital  is  so  invested,  and  his  business  in  such  chan 
nels,  that  his  annual  income  exceeds  that  of  any  other  member 
of  the  present  Congress. 


SMITH,   ROBERT. 

*• * '        .' 

JL  HIS  gentleman,  whose  history  furnishes  one  amid  the  many 
instructive  examples  which  these  pages  present,  of  the  success 
attendant  upon  honorable  aims  and  persevering  efforts,  repre 
sents  the  first  Congressional  District  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 
He  was  born  at  Peterborough,  New-Hampshire,  on  the  12th  of 
June,  1802.  His  grandfather,  William  Smith,  was  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  that  town,  having  emigrated  from  the  north 
of  Ireland.  He  was  of  Scotch  and  English  descent.  He  held 
for  many  years  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  1774 
was  a  member  of  the  Provincial  Congress.  His  wife  was  Eliz 
abeth,  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  Morrison,  and  descend 
ed,  on  the  maternal  side,  from  Sir  William  Wallace.  She  had 
seven  sons,  all  of  whom  grew  to  manhood.  One  of  these  sons 
was  the  late  Jeremiah  Smith,  of  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  dis 
tinguished  for  the  many  honors  conferred  upon  him  both  by  his 
own  state  and  by  the  general  government.  The  following  epi 
taph,  prepared  by  Daniel  Webster  and  George  Ticknor,  is  in 
scribed  on  his  tomb-stone : 

"  Here  rest  the  remains  of 
JEREMIAH  SMITH. 

In  early  youth 

a  Volunteer  in  the  cause  of  the  Revolution,  and 
wounded  in  the  Battle  of  Bennington ; 

afterward 
a  Representative  in  Congress  by  the  choice  of  the 

People  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  an  able  and  efficient  supporter  of  the  measures  of 

WASHINGTON  ; 

a  District  Attorney  of  the  United  States,  and 
Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  by  the  appointment  of 

Washington's  successor. 

In  years  yet  more  mature, 

Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  and 

twice  its  chief  justice. 

He  was,  at  every  period  of  his  life,  well  deserving  of  his  country  by  his  courage, 
his  fidelity,  and  his  devotedness  to  the  public  service ;  equaled  by  few  in  orig- 

464 


ROBERT    SMITH.  465 

inal  power,  practical  wisdom,  and  judicial  learning  and  acuteness ;  surpassed  in 
the  love  of  honor,  justice,  and  truth,  by  none. 

"  He  was  born  at  Peterborough,  November  29th,  1759,  and  lived  in  Exeter  from 
1797  till  a  few  months  before  his  death  at  Dover,  September  21st,  1842 ;  always 
most  loved  in  those  circles  of  domestic  affection  where  he  was  beat  known,  and 
always  a  Christian,  both  by  his  convictions  and  by  the  habits  of  a  life  protracted, 
in  extraordinary  cheerfulness  and  energy,  to  above  fourscore  and  two  years." 

Samuel,  who  continued  to  reside  at  Peterborough,  and  was 
a  representative  in  the  thirteenth  Congress,  was  another  son. 
John,  the  second,  and  the  father  of  Robert,  was  another.  He 
was  a  farmer,  unambitious  of  distinction,  nearly  the  whole  of 
whose  time  was  occupied  with  public  business.  He  held  the 
offices  of  justice  of  the  peace,  selectman,  county  commissioner, 
and  representative  to  the  general  court.  He  settled  most  of 
the  estates  of  deceased  persons  in  the  town,  laid  out  roads,  was 
one  of  the  referees  in  all  arbitrated  controversies  in  his  region, 
and  agent  in  one  of  the  first  factories  established  in  New  Hamp- 
shire.  He  died  suddenly  in  August,  1821,  having  pitched  vio 
lently  from  the  top  of  a  cart-load  of  hay,  and  broken  his  neck. 

John  H.  Morrison  says  of  him  (in  his  Life  of  Jeremiah  Smith): 

"  He  was  for  many  years  an  able  and  influential  member  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Legislature.  Notwithstanding  the  plain 
ness  of  his  speech  and  the  pungency  of  his  wit,  he  was  a  man 
greatly  honored  and  beloved,  and  his  sudden  and  violent  death 
in  August,  1821,  caused  a  deep  sensation  of  grief  through  the 
whole  community  in  which  he  lived.  The  present  governor 
of  New  Hampshire,  John  H.  Steele,  who  always  differed  from 
him  in  politics,  has,  with  a  warmth  of  feeling  alike  creditable 
to  both,  thus  described  him : 

"  *  If  Peterborough  can  boast  of  a  better,  more  useful,  bright 
er,  purer-hearted  son  than  was  John  Smith,  I  know  him  not. 
That  she  can  point  to  many  whose  exterior,  both  in  dress  and 
address,  comes  much  nearer  to  what  is  termed  a  finished  gen 
tleman,  no  one  will  doubt.  But  where  now  is  the  man  who 
never  lets  a  human  being  pass  him  unheeded  ?  whose  ever-act 
ive  mind  and  ready  talent  can  draw  forth  alike  the  budding 
powers  of  childhood  or  those  of  ripened  age  ?  who  is  ever  ready 
to  aid,  counsel,  or  direct,  with  wisdom,  purse,  or  hand,  his  fel 
low-man?  Such  a  man  was  John  Smith.  With  an  address 
which  to  a  stranger  appeared  rough  and  rugged  as  the  mount 
ains  which  surround  his  native  town,  he  possessed  a  heart  as 

VOL.  L— G  G 


ROBERT    SMITH.  465 

inal  power,  practical  wisdom,  and  judicial  learning  and  acuteness ;  surpassed  in 
the  love  of  honor,  justice,  and  truth,  by  none. 

"  He  was  bora  at  Peterborough,  November  29th,  1759,  and  lived  in  Exeter  from 
1797  till  a  few  months  before  his  death  at  Dover,  September  21st,  1842 ;  always 
most  loved  in  those  circles  of  domestic  affection  where  he  was  beat  known,  and 
always  a  Christian,  both  by  his  convictions  and  by  the  habits  of  a  life  protracted, 
in  extraordinary  cheerfulness  and  energy,  to  above  fourscore  and  two  years." 

Samuel,  who  continued  to  reside  at  Peterborough,  and  was 
a  representative  in  the  thirteenth  Congress,  was  another  son. 
John,  the  second,  and  the  father  of  Robert,  was  another.  He 
was  a  farmer,  unambitious  of  distinction,  nearly  the  whole  of 
whose  time  was  occupied  with  public  business.  He  held  the 
offices  of  justice  of  the  peace,  selectman,  county  commissioner, 
and  representative  to  the  general  court.  He  settled  most  of 
the  estates  of  deceased  persons  in  the  town,  laid  out  roads,  was 
one  of  the  referees  in  all  arbitrated  controversies  in  his  region, 
and  agent  in  one  of  the  first  factories  established  in  New  Hamp 
shire.  He  died  suddenly  in  August,  1821,  having  pitched  vio 
lently  from  the  top  of  a  cart-load  of  hay,  and  broken  his  neck. 

John  H.  Morrison  says  of  him  (in  his  Life  of  Jeremiah  Smith): 

"  He  was  for  many  years  an  able  and  influential  member  of 
the  New  Hampshire  Legislature.  Notwithstanding  the  plain 
ness  of  his  speech  and  the  pungency  of  his  wit,  he  was  a  man 
greatly  honored  and  beloved,  and  his  sudden  and  violent  death 
in  August,  1821,  caused  a  deep  sensation  of  grief  through  the 
whole  community  in  which  he  lived.  The  present  governor 
of  New  Hampshire,  John  H.  Steele,  who  always  differed  from 
him  in  politics,  has,  with  a  warmth  of  feeling  alike  creditable 
to  both,  thus  described  him : 

"  '  If  Peterborough  can  boast  of  a  better,  more  useful,  bright 
er,  purer-hearted  son  than  was  John  Smith,  I  know  him  not. 
That  she  can  point  to  many  whose  exterior,  both  in  dress  and 
address,  comes  much  nearer  to  what  is  termed  a  finished  gen 
tleman,  no  one  will  doubt.  But  where  now  is  the  man  who 
never  lets  a  human  being  pass  him  unheeded  ?  whose  ever-act 
ive  mind  and  ready  talent  can  draw  forth  alike  the  budding 
powers  of  childhood  or  those  of  ripened  age  ?  who  is  ever  ready 
to  aid,  counsel,  or  direct,  with  wisdom,  purse,  or  hand,  his  fel 
low-man?  Such  a  man  was  John  Smith.  With  an  address 
which  to  a  stranger  appeared  rough  and  rugged  as  the  mount 
ains  which  surround  his  native  town,  he  possessed  a  heart  as 

VOL.  I.— G  G 


466  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

tender  and  as  pure  as  ever  animated  the  breast  of  man.  To 
him  I  owe  more  than  I  can  express.  He  was  not  only  a  friend, 
but  a  father.  He  taught  me  to  believe  that  there  is  nothing 
impossible — nothing  that  a  willing  mind  and  active  hand  can 
not  accomplish.  I  yet  seem  to  hear  his  voice  reproving  me  for 
saying  '  /  can  not  do  it  /'  *  Why  don't  you  try,'  he  would  say, 
i  and  not  stand  there  looking  as  if  you  were  in  a  trance?'  " 

The  mother  of  Robert  Smith  was  the  daughter  of  David  and 
Janet  Steele.  The  family  of  that  name  had  been  somewhat 
distinguished  in  New  Hampshire  for  the  conspicuous  part  which 
several  of  its  members  had  at  different  times  borne  in  the  pub 
lic  affairs.  She  had  seven  children,  three  daughters  and  four 
sons,  of  which  latter  Robert  was  the  second.  We  will  speak 
of  him,  in  mere  personal  matters,  as  if  he  were  himself  address 
ing  our  readers.  Thus : 

"  I  was  put  to  work  very  young — to  such  work  as  boys  in 
New  England  usually  do — driving  the  cows  to  and  from  pas 
ture,  running  of  errands,  and  waiting  upon  the  men  about  the 
farm.     One  kind  of  service  I  well  recollect — that  was,  riding 
horse  to  plow  stony  ground,  and  being  thrown  over  the  horse's 
head  many  times  during  the  day  by  the  plow  striking  a  rock. 
I  worked  very  steadily  until  sixteen  years  of  age,  going  to  a 
district  school,  in  the  winter,  generally  three  months,  working 
night  and  morning,  taking  care  of  the  stock,  and  chopping 
wood  to  keep  the  fires.     This  last  item,  in  a  large,  old-fashion 
ed  New  England  house,  was  no  holiday  sport.     From  fifteen  to 
nineteen  I  took  the  entire  charge  of  my  father's  farm,  which 
was  somewhat  extensive.     As  early  as  the  age  of  twelve  to 
fourteen,  I  used  to  take  three  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a  pair  of  horses 
on  the  lead,  with  a  wood-sled,  and  go  to  the  woods — a  distance 
of  a  mile  and  a  half — on  the  coldest  days  in  winter,  with  snow 
three  feet  deep  on  the  ground,  and  haul  wood,  having  a  man  in 
the  woods  to  chop  and  help  load.     At  fourteen,  '  solitary  and 
alone,'  I  was  sent,  with  a  four-horse  team,  from  Peterborough 
to  Nashua  and  Boston,  for  large  loads  of  cotton  for  the  factory 
for  which  my  father  was  agent.     At  eighteen  I  studied  mathe 
matics,  a  favorite  branch  of  knowledge  with  me,  under  Daniel 
M.  Christie,  then  a  law-student  in  Peterborough.     I  believe  I 
had  credit  for  being  as  thorough  in  that  branch  as  the  majority 
of  college  graduates.     This,  with  three  months  at  the  New  Jps- 


ROBERT   SMITH.  467 

wich  Academy,  under  the  superintendence  of  A.  Eades,  com 
pleted  my  education. 

"  While  I  was  at  this  academy — being  then  nineteen  years 
of  age — application  was  made  to  Mr.  Eades  for  a  teacher  for 
one  of  the  district  schools  in  Dublin,  where  his  brother  had 
been  employed  for  a  number  of  years.  Mr.  Eades  recommend 
ed  me  to  the  district.  The  school  continued  three  months,  and, 
so  far  as  I  could  learn,  I  gave  entire  satisfaction  to  parents 
and  scholars.  This  I  considered  almost  a  miracle,  as  a  large 
number  of  my  pupils  were  greatly  my  seniors,  and  many  of 
them  really,  in  some  branches,  better  scholars  than  myself. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1822,  after  the  close  of  my  school,  I  went 
into  the  machine-shop  of  my  uncle,  Samuel  Smith,  of  Peter 
borough,  to  learn  the  trade  of  building  machinery  for  the  man 
ufacture  of  cotton  cloth.  In  this  employment  I  continued  until 
the  death,  in  October,  of  my  eldest  brother  John,  who,  with 
Thomas  Baker  and  John  Cavender,  had  the  previous  year  com* 
menced  the  building  of  a  cotton  factory  in  Northfield,  on  the 
Winnipisiogee  River,  near  the  point  where,  uniting  with  the 
Pemigewasset,  the  two  rivers  form  the  Merrimack.  Immedi 
ately  after  the  death  of  my  brother,  his  partners  proposed  that 
I  should  take  his  place  in  the  firm,  and  accordingly,  in  Novem 
ber,  1822,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  I  became  a  member  of  the 
company  subsequently  known  as  the  Smithville  Manufacturing 
Company.  At  this  time  we  had  a  store  at  Salisbury  Village. 
I  remained  in  the  store  until  the  spring  of  1823,  when  I  went 
into  the  machine-shop  again,  and  worked  in  that  department' 
until  the  machinery  required  for  our  purposes  was  built  and  put 
in  operation.  I  then  went  into  the  manufacturing  department, 
where  I  remained  until  I  made  myself  acquainted  with  the  en 
tire  process  of  converting  the  raw  cotton  into  cloth.  Soon  after 
the  factory  was  put  into  operation,  we  built  a  store  in  the  im 
mediate  vicinity,  and  I  then  took  the  general  superintendence 
both  of  the  store  and  factory.  I  had  here  a  good  school  in 
which  to  study  human  nature,  and  I  learned  much  that  has 
been  useful  to  me  in  my  subsequent  intercourse  with  the  world 
During  the  summer  of  1824, 1  confined  myself  so  closely  to  busi 
ness  that  my  health  failed,  and  in  October  of  that  year  I  took 
passage  from  Boston  in  a  merchant  ship  and  went  to  Savannah. 
I  made  a  short  stay  there,  and  then  took  a  seven-by-nine  steam- 


468  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

boat  for  Purysburg,  on  the  Savannah  River.  Though  the  dis 
tance  was  less  than  thirty  miles,  we  were  nearly  all  day  in 
'making  it.'  From  that  place  I  traveled  by  land  through  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  to  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  after  having 
remained  there  some  weeks  I  went  to  Charleston,  where  I  spent 
the  residue  of  the  winter. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1825,  my  health  having  been  perfectly  re 
stored,  I  returned  home,  and  resumed  my  position  in  the  firm. 
Society  at  Salisbury  Village  and  Northfield  was  not  at  that 
time,  perhaps,  as  refined  as  in  some  portions  of  New  England. 
There  existed  a  strong  opposition  to  liberal  preaching,  and 
dancing  was  looked  upon  with  holy  horror.  I  had  many  wordy 
wars  with  some  of  the  old  citizens  on  these  points,  and  may 
have  been  in  some  degree  instrumental  in  producing  a  more  tol 
erant  religious  feeling  in  the  community,  and  in  dispelling  the 
bigoted  prejudice  against  dancing. 

"  In  1826,  our  company  found  itself  laboring  under  great  dis 
advantages  by  reason  of  owning  property  and  doing  business  in 
three  towns,  all  within  the  distance  of  half  a  mile.  This  led 
to  efforts  to  erect  a  new  town  out  of  the  three  and  one  other, 
namely,  Salisbury,  Andover,  Northfield,  and  Sandborton.  The 
members  of  the  Legislature  from  all  these  towns  were  strongly 
opposed  to  the  creation  of  a  new  one,  as  it  would  diminish  the 
importance  of  their  own.  The  first  effort,  made  in  1826,  was 
not  successful.  It  was  not,  in  all  respects,  judiciously  directed. 
In  1828  I  thought  I  saw  a  fair  opportunity  to  accomplish  the 
object.  The  effort  was  again  made,  and  I  may  say,  without 
vanity,  that  my  plan  of  operations  secured  a  successful  result. 
At  no  period  of  my  life,  perhaps,  did  I  perform  more  severe  la 
bor  than  during  the  struggle  for  the  passage  of  an  act  creating 
the  town  of  Franklin.  All  the  towns  out  of  which  it  was  carved 
were  Democratic.  The  members  representing  them  were  vio 
lently  opposed  to  us,  and  brought  party  influence  to  bear  against 
us.  Thus  thrown  into  collision,  we  were  forced  to  oppose  them, 
and  we  did  so.  Matters  growing  out  of  this  controversy  gov 
erned  my  votes  while  I  resided  there,  and,  consequently,  I  was 
classed  by  many  of  my  friends  as  anti-Democratic.  I  have  al 
ways  claimed  to  be  a  Democrat,  and  have  always  advocated 
those  measures  which  tended  to  give  the  largest  liberty  to  the 
masses.  While  I  remained  in  Franklin,  no  man  who  had  op- 


ROBERT   SMITH.  469 

posed  the  creation  of  the  town,  or  who  was  warmly  the  friend 
of  those  who  did  oppose  it,  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  from 
that  town.  But,  the  year  afterward,  the  tables  were  turned. 

"In  1827  I  went  to  Commencement  at  Hanover,  and  you 
may  recollect  to  have  heard  me  relate  the  incident  which  oc 
curred  with  my  cousin,  Albert  Smith,  a  former  graduate,  when, 
leaving  me  to  take  his  place  with  his  class  in  the  procession,  he 
expressed  his  regret  that,  being  an  entire  stranger,  I  could  not 
accompany  him. 

"Having  first  given  a  maturer  aspect  to  my  appearance  by 
putting  on  a  pair  of  double  green  spectacles,  I  took  my  place  in 
the  procession  among  strangers  of  distinction,  and  passed  by 
my  cousin,  who  stood  with  his  hat  under  his  arm,  while  I  mov 
ed  on  to  a  distinguished  seat  in  the  hall.  This  was  one  of  the 
few  occasions  of  my  life  when  impudence  got  the  better  of  that 
extreme  diffidence  which  you  know  to  be  natural  to  me. 

"  On  that  trip  I  went  to  Saratoga  Springs  and  New  York 
City,  and  was  at  Commencement  at  New  Haven. 

"  During  the  same  year  I  first  met  with  the  young  lady  who 
subsequently  became  my  wife — Sarah  Perkins  Bingham,  daugh 
ter  of  Vine  Bingham,  of  Lempster,  New  Hampshire.  She  vis 
ited  the  factory  in  company  with  some  other  young  ladies ;  I 
was  introduced  to  her,  and  my  destiny  was  at  once  decided. 
We  were  married  in  November,  1828.  I  have  now  living  a 
son  and  a  daughter. 

"I  had  always  felt  a  strong  predilection  for  the  South  or 
West,  and  in  1830  I  retired  from  the  Smithville  Manufac-. 
turing  Company,  preparatory  to  making  arrangements  for  my 
emigration  westward.  I  improved  the  time  that  elapsed  be 
tween  this  decision  and  my  departure  in  reading  Blackstone's 
Commentaries,  and  other  elementary  works  upon  law,  under  the 
idea  that  possibly  I  might  pursue  the  study  of  that  profession 
with  a  view  hereafter  to  its  practice.  In  1831 1  made  a  journey 
to  Michigan  in  company  with  my  cousins  James  and  J.  A. 
Smith,  of  Cavendish,  Vermont,  James  Walker,  of  Peterbor 
ough,  and  some  four  other  gentlemen.  We  had  a  very  pleas 
ant  trip,  although  attended  by  some  hardships.  Most  of  the 
country  through  which  we  passed  was  new,  and  the  traveling 
very  bad.  After  we  left  Ann  Arbor,  the  country  could  hardly 
be  said  to  be  settled  at  all.  We  generally  managed  to  find  some 


470  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

House  or  cabin  to  stop  in  over  night.  At  Bronson,  now  the 
county  seat  of  Kalamazoo  county,  we  had  great  difficulty  in 
getting  our  wagon  over  the  Kalamazoo  River,  there  being  then 
no  such  thing  as  flat-boats  in  that  region.  We  had  to  put  our 
wagon  into  two  dug-outs  in  order  to  cross.  I  purchased  some 
lands  at  the  land-sale  at  White  Pigeon  Prairie,  at  the  first  sale 
held  there.  I  did  not,  however,  like  Michigan  well  enough  to 
settle  there ;  there  was  too  much  low,  marshy  ground  to  suit 
me ;  and  before  leaving  that  territory  I  determined  to  go  to  Illi 
nois,  believing  then  that  it  would  be  a  more  eligible  state  to 
settle  in  than  Michigan.  Besides,  I  preferred  a  more  southern 
climate,  and  in  April,  1832,  I  left  with  my  wife,  her  mother, 
and  brother  for  Illinois.  At  the  time  I  left,  very  little  was  known 
in  my  section  of  country  in  relation  to  the  West.  My  friends 
all  remonstrated  against  our  departure.  They  regarded  that 
distant  region  as  being  out  of  the  world — or,  at  any  rate,  out 
of  civilization.  Few  of  them  ever  expected  to  see  us  again ; 
and  very  many  never  expected  to  hear  from  us,  or  of  us,  un 
less  it  was,  perchance,  to  hear  that  we  had  been  blown  up  by 
a  steamboat,  or  tomahawked  by  the  Indians.  Our  journey, 
however,  was  made  without  any  accident,  and  we  arrived  in  St. 
Louis  in  the  latter  part  of  June. 

"  After  remaining  there  a  week,  we  moved  to  Upper  Alton, 
Illinois.  We  knew  no  one  there,  nor  was  there  a  single  per 
son  within  two  hundred  miles  whom  I  had  ever  seen  before. 
I  had  very  little  capital  to  begin  with.  The  only  tenement  to 
be  had  at  that  time  was  a  log  house  of  one  story  and  a  half, 
containing  only  one  room  sixteen  by  twenty,  and  with  open 
ings  between  the  logs  large  enough  to  throw  a  cat  through. 
Lower  Alton  contained  but  few  houses,  and  Upper  Alton  some- 
ten  or  a  dozen.  I  had  carried  with  me  a  few  goods,  and  I 
opened  them  in  the  old  post-office  building,  my  store  being  op 
posite  to  the  only  other  one  in  the  town,  that  of  Messrs.  Gil- 
rnan  and  Long.  I  took  no  furniture  with  me.  I  found  a  few 
hickory-bottomed  chairs  at  Lower  Alton,  which  was  the  only 
furniture  to  be  found  in  either  of  the  two  towns.  We  used 
two  chairs  and  a  box-lid  as  a  table  upon  which  to  spread  our 
meals  until  we  got  a  carpenter  to  make  us  one,  and  this  was 
the  first  table  ever  made  in  either  Alton.  St.  Louis  was  then 
a  small  place,  and  business  very  flat  there.  I  selected  Alton 


ROBERT    SMITH.  471 

as  a  good  geographical  location,  believing  then,  as  I  have  be 
lieved  ever  since,  that  if  an  enlightened  and  liberal  policy  had 
been  pursued,  it  would  at  least  have  rivaled  St.  Louis,  if  not 
gone  ahead  of  it. 

"  There  being  but  little  business  in  the  mercantile  line  at 
that  time,  I  found  myself  with  a  good  deal  of  leisure,  and,  wish 
ing,  to  know  something  about  the  land-owners  in  the  region  of 
Alton,  I  went  to  the  land-office  at  Edwardsville,  and  procured 
maps  of  all  the  surrounding  country,  with  the  names  of  the 
owners  written  thereon.  This  enabled  me  to  know  more  in  re 
lation  to  the  lands  in  the  vicinity  than  many  persons  who  had 
lived  there  fifteen  years.  The  consequence  was,  that  all  per 
sons  wishing  to  enter  lands  came  to  me  to  procure  information 
about  them.  I  was  fortunate  in  making  friends,  and  sold  more 
goods  than  my  neighbors.  A  vacancy  happening  in  the  militia 
company  from  the  precinct  composed  of  Upper  Alton  and 
Wood  River  in  the  fall  of  1832,  I  was  elected  captain  by  all 
the  votes  of  the  company  except  two,  notwithstanding  that  I 
had,  against  the  custom  of  the  company,  refused  to  declare  my 
self  a  candidate. 

"For  the  first  few  years  of  my  residence  in  Alton,  lawyers 
then  being  scarce,  I  frequently  volunteered,  i  without  money 
and  without  price,'  to  help  my  neighbors  out  of  their  difficul 
ties  in  little  controversies  before  the  magistrates  of  the  precinct. 
I  met  with  considerable  success? .  I  was  applied  to  for  legal 
advice  oftener,  perhaps,  than  all  the  lawyers  in  my  end  of  the 
county.  The  reason,  I  presume,  was,  that  I  took  no  fees,  but 
did  every  thing  gratis  ;  and  I  always  made  it  a  rule  of  action 
to  advise  adjustment  of  the  controversy  in  the  first  instance, 
without  resort  to  the  courts  of  law. 

"  Soon  after  my  arrival  at  Alton,  I  purchased,  in  company 
with  my  brother-in-law,  J.  L.  Bingham,  a  tract  of  land  known 
as  the  Middletown  tract,  lying  between  Upper  and  Lower  Al 
ton,  and  containing  about  ninety  acres.  I  believed  that  if  Al 
ton  should  ever  become  a  considerable  town,  this  would  be  very 
valuable  property.  I  also  bought  lands  from  time  to  time,  as 
desirable  opportunities  presented  themselves,  until  my  pur 
chases  amounted  to  about  four  thousand  acres.  Many  of  these 
lands  were  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Alton,  and  some  of  them 
heavily  timbered.  I  employed  a  large  number  of  hands  during 


472  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

the  fall  and  winter  in  chopping  wood  to  supply  the  Alton  mar 
ket  and  the  steamboats,  and  occasionally  sending  by  flat-boats 
to  the  St.  Louis  market.  I  also  cleared  up  a  good  deal  of  land, 
and  made  several  small  farms,  which  were  worked  chiefly  by 
tenants. 

"  In  1835,  Lower  Alton  having  begun  to  make  rapid  im 
provement,  my  brother-in-law  and  myself  thought  it  best  to  lay 
the  land  out  into  building-lots.  We  did  so,  calling  the  town  Mid- 
dletown:  it  has  since  been  called  Middle  Alton.  In  order  to 
give  value  to  this  property,  I  found  it  necessary  to  build  a  road 
between  the  two  towns  of  Alton.  This  was  a  very  heavy  job, 
the  ground  being  rough  and  broken.  After  procuring  some 
small  contributions  from  owners  of  property  in  the  vicinity  who 
were  to  be  benefited  by  the  construction  of  the  road,  I  expend 
ed,  in  addition  to  these  sums,  about  two  thousand  dollars  in  cut 
ting  through  the  hills  and  filling  up  the  hollows.  The  road, 
while  in  process  of  construction,  excited  a  good  deal  of  curiosi 
ty  among  the  people,  being  the  first  work  of  the  kind  in  that 
region  of  country.  It  was  a  novel  spectacle  to  see  excavations 
through  the  hills  to  the  depth  of  some  thirty  feet,  and  the  con 
jectures  as  to  their  object,  at  the  commencement  of  the  work, 
were  various.  In  1835  and  36  I  built  a  number  of  small  houses 
in  Middletown  to  rent,  and  by  this  means  and  the  building  of 
the  road,  gave  some  notoriety  to  the  town  and  some  value  to  the 
lots.  For  instance :  an  acre  of  this  land,  which  I  purchased  in 
1832  at  eight  dollars,  I  sold  in  1837  for  two  thousand.  Dur 
ing  the  years  1835,  6,  7,  and  8,  I  also  built  rather  extensively 
in  Upper  Alton,  and  put  up  a  large  livery  stable,  besides  a  two- 
story  double  house.  I  may,  perhaps,  truly  say,  that  from  my 
first  settlement  in  Alton  down  to  1838  or  1840,  I  carried  on 
more  operations,  and  did  more  to  give  life  and  energy  to  busi 
ness,  and  prosperity  to  the  town,  than  any  other  person  in  it. 
In  any  event,  I  presume  all  would  admit  that  I  did  more  ac 
cording  to  my  means  than  any  other  person.  I  devoted  myself 
exclusively  to  business,  not  even  participating  in  any  of  those 
hunting  or  fishing  excursions  which  are  so  common  in  the  West 
ern  country.  I  realized  what  in  our  new  country  was  considered 
a  fortune ;  but,  by  lending  my  name  to  every  one  who  asked  it ; 
by  trusting  implicitly  to  the  honesty  of  all  men ;  and,  finally, 
by  means  of  the  revulsion  which  prostrated  the  business  and 


ROBERT   SMITH.  473 

prosperity  of  the  country  in  1840,  41,  and  42, 1  lost  all  my  pos 
sessions  in  a  much  shorter  space  of  time  than  that  in  which  I  had 
obtained  them.  These  reverses,  however,  have  never  caused 
me  the  loss  of  an  hour's  sleep,  nor  have  I  ever  relaxed  my  ex 
ertions  to  recover  from  the  pecuniary  losses  I  have  sustained. 
Acting  upon  the  principle  that  nothing  is  accomplished  while 
any  thing  remains  to  be  done,  I  have  always  felt  confident  that, 
so  long  as  I  enjoyed  the  blessing  of  health,  I  could  provide  the 
means  requisite  to  supply  the  moderate  wishes  of  myself  and 
my  family. 

"  In  the  spring  of  1834,  the  Wood  River  people  brought  me 
out,  against  my  convictions  of  policy  or  propriety,  as  a  candi 
date  for  the  Legislature.  I  urged,  with  other  objections,  my 
short  residence  among  them.  They  answered  that  I  had  done 
more  since  my  residence  there  to  promote  their  interests  than 
any  other  man,  no  matter  how  long  his  residence  might  have 
been  ;  and  they  held  themselves  especially  bound  to  me  be 
cause,  in  the  summer  of  1833,  I  had  fortunately  been  instru 
mental  in  raising  the  price  of  wheat.  I  had  chartered  Collet's 
Mill,  on  Rattan's  Prairie,  where  I  had  wheat  ground  into  flour 
for  market,  and  brought  up  the  price  from  thirty-seven  and  a 
half  to  fifty  cents  per  bushel.  I  had  influential  competitors, 
and  lost  the  election  through  some  friend  of  one  of  the  other 
candidates,  who  stated  at  two  of  the  precincts  most  remote 
from  my  place  of  residence  that  I  had  declined  running.  At 
the  three  precincts  nearest  me,  I  ran  more  than  one  hundred 
votes  ahead  of  the  highest  candidate  elected." 

Having  now  brought  Mr.  Smith  on  to  the  beaten  track,  we 
proceed  in  the  usual  form. 

In  1836  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  from  Madison 
county,  having  received  a  vote  over  his  competitors  ranging 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  to  three  hundred.  At  the 
session  which  followed,  he  voted  for  the  internal  improvement 
system  of  his  state,  against  his  own  convictions  of  its  policy, 
but  in  obedience  to  what  he  considered  instructions.  He  saw 
that  there  were  no  means  of  resisting  a  mammoth  system ;  and 
it  gave  to  his  constituents  so  large  a  share  of  its  contemplated 
benefits,  that  they  would  summarily  have  set  aside  any  repre 
sentative  who  had  voted  against  it.  At  the  special  session  of 
July,  1837,  to  which  we  have  elsewhere  adverted,  he  resisted 


474  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

bank  suspension.  Before  leaving  home,  suggestions,  looking  to 
instructing  him  to  vote  for  suspension,  had  been  made,  which 
he  met  with  the  declaration  that,  if  unconditionally  instructed  to 
give  such  a  vote,  he  would  resign  his  seat.  Instructions  were 
drawn  up  and  circulated  for  a  time,  but  were  finally  withdrawn. 

In  1838  he  was  again  elected,  under  circumstances  in  which 
the  attempt  on  his  part  seemed  almost  without  hope.  At  this 
session  he  exerted  himself  to  prevent  the  diversion  of  the  term 
inating  point  of  the  Cumberland  Road  to  St.  Louis,  its  termi 
nation  at  Alton  being  a  favorite  measure  with  his  constituents. 
Strong  efforts  had  been  made  to  give  it  the  other  direction. 

In  1840  he  was  elected  enrolling  and  engrossing  clerk  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Illinois,  and  again  in  1842,  with 
out  opposition. 

In  the  spring  of  1843  the  state  was  newly  districted.  He 
was  nominated  for  Congress  on  the  first  ballot  over  two  formi 
dable  candidates,  and  was  elected  to  the  twenty-eighth  Con 
gress  by  a  majority  of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
votes.  The  majority  would  have  reached  three  thousand  but 
for  a  local  difficulty.  He  was  again  elected  to  the  twenty-ninth 
Congress  by  a  majority  of  nearly  four  thousand  votes,  though 
opposed  by  a  very  popular  gentleman  who  had  formerly  repre 
sented  the  district  in  Congress,  who  ran  as  an  independent  can 
didate,  and  who  was  sustained  by  the  opposite  party ;  and  he 
was  again  elected  to  the  thirtieth  Congress  by  a  majority  of 
upward  of  two  thousand  votes,  under  circumstances  of  great 
disadvantage. 

He  believes  himself  at  this  time  to  have  had  more  and  firmer 
friends  in  his  district  than  he  had  had  at  any  period  since  his 
first  election.  Nevertheless,  early  in  the  last  summer,  from  a 
generous  motive,  which  is  known  to  us,  and  which  will  soon 
be  made  manifest,  he  declared  his  intention  not  to  be  a  candi 
date  for  re-election.  This  determination  has  not  been  received 
without  murmurs  by  many  of  those  friends  whose  confidence 
he  has  so  long  enjoyed,  whose  interests  he  has  so  faithfully  rep 
resented,  and  to  whose  business  concerns,  in  the  departments 
and  elsewhere,  he  has,  in  a  degree  never  perhaps  surpassed,  la 
boriously  and  indefatigably  devoted  himself. 

His  general  course  in  the  national  councils  has  been  guided 
by  those  Democratic  principles  and  doctrines  upon  which  he 


ROBERT    SMITH*  475 

was  originally  elected.  He  has  sustained  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Polk  in  all  the  cardinal  features  of  its  policy,  excepting 
as  to  appropriations  for  rivers  and  harbors.  These  he  has  al 
ways  broadly  and  liberally  advocated. 

"  Sir,"  said  he,  on  one  occasion,  "  upon  the  wide  and  beau 
tiful  plains  of  Illinois  alone,  intersected  and  irrigated  as  they 
are  by  numerous  streams  of  water,  as  magnificent  and  useful 
as  the  eye  of  man  ever  rested  upon — upon  her  fifty-eight  thou 
sand  of  square  miles  of  fertile  lands,  unassisted  by  her  sister 
states,  may  be  grown  enough  grain  to  supply  the  granaries  of 
Europe  and  of  America  to  overflowing !  If  this  can  be  accom 
plished  by  one  state,  what  a  blessed  influence  upon  the  markets 
of  the  world  will  be  exerted  when  the  united  and  multifarious 
productions  of  all  the  present  and  embryo  states  in  the  West 
shall  cheaply,  safely,  and  in  good  order  be  wafted  thither ! 

"  These  proud  and  desirable  results  may  be  obtained,  Mr. 
Speaker,  by  expending  upon  our  rivers  a  very  small  sum  of 
money.  Of  the  eleven  hundred  and  twelve  millions,  seventy- 
six  thousand,  five  hundred  and  eighty-six  dollars  and  thirty-three 
cents  expended  by  the  general  government  from  1791  to  1840, 
so  small  a  sum  has  been  expended  in  the  West,  that  we  feel  em 
boldened  to  ask  that  something  worthy  of  the  high  character  of 
this  nation  be  now  done  to  render  the  navigation  of  Western 
rivers  easy,  safe,  and  expeditious." 

He  has  earnestly  but  vainly  struggled  to  secure  appropria 
tions  for  the  continuation  of  the  Cumberland  Road :  a  project 
which  men  of  all  parties,  with  a  few  exceptions,  seem  lately  al 
most  to  have  forgotten.  There  are  those  who  cherish  the  hope 
that  land  appropriations  may  yet  be  made :  a  result  to  which 
the  far-distant  friends  of  the  road  should  not  look  forward,  we 
think,  with  too  much  confidence. 

The  first  proposition  ever  offered  in  Congress  by  Mr.  Smith 
provided  for  a  donation  of  eighty  acres  of  public  land  to  every 
actual  settler,  being  the  head  of  a  family  and  living  with  it,  not 
then  the  owner  of  land,  and  who,  through  misfortune  or  other 
wise,  was  unable  to  purchase.  He  did  not  regard  the  quantity 
as  sufficiently  liberal  to  the  cultivator  of  the  soil,  and  he  would 
have  voted  cheerfully  for  double  the  amount,  but  he  feared  to 
ask  for  more,  lest  he  should  get  nothing  for  those  who  were  des 
titute  of  land  and  were  unable  to  pay  for  it. 


476  HISTORY  OP   CONGRESS. 

He  has  labored  assiduously  to  secure  the  reduction  and  grad 
uation  of  the  price  of  the  public  lands  :  a  principle,  the  justice 
and  expediency  of  which  he  has  lost  no  opportunity  of  enfor 
cing. 

He  was  enrolled  in  the  ranks  of  the  fifty-four  forties.  [See 
title,  S.  A.  DOUGLAS.]  His  convictions  were  deep  and  strong 
that  the  whole  territory  belonged  to  the  United  States,  and  that 
its  settlement  and  occupation  were  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
the  prosperity  and  harmony  of  the  whole  Union,  and  to  the  per 
manency  of  our  republican  form  of  government. 

He  has  opposed  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  His  name,  however, 
does  not  appear  recorded  on  the  Three  Million  Bill.  When  the 
vote  was  taken,  he  had  stepped  into  the  Senate  to  transact  some 
business  for  an  absent  colleague ;  on  his  return,  he  asked  per 
mission  to  record  his  vote,  but  the  House  did  not  grant  it. 

He  has  been  the  liberal  friend  of  the  soldier — regular  as  well 
as  volunteer — and  was  one  of  those  who  offered  propositions  for 
the  increase  of  their  pay. 

Among  the  measures  which  have  been  introduced  by  him, 
we  notice  a  bill  making  further  provision  for  the  payment  of 
horses  and  other  property  lost  or  destroyed  in  the  Black  Hawk 
war ;  a  bill  to  provide  for  the  speedy  completion  of  the  Cum 
berland  Road  in  the  States  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Ohio ;  a 
bill  to  create  a  port  of  entry  at  the  city  of  Alton ;  a  bill  to  cre 
ate  collection  districts  at  Alton,  Quincy,  Galena,  and  Cairo, 
Illinois ;  a  bill  to  grant  to  the  State  of  Illinois  certain  alternate 
sections  of  land,  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  the  Alton  and  Mount 
Carmel,  and  Alton  and  Shawneetown  Rail-road.  Also,  propo 
sitions  to  establish  a  marine  hospital  at  the  junction  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  and  Ohio  Rivers,  for  the  accommodation  of  sick  and  dis 
abled  seamen,  boatmen,  and  others ;  for  the  establishment  of 
naval  depots  in  Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Tennessee ;  to  extend 
the  benefit  of  all  pension  laws  now  in  force,  granting  pensions 
to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  war  and  their 
widows,  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  who  served  in  the  defense 
of  our  frontiers  in  the  Indian  wars  prior  to  the  year  1812 ;  in 
favor  of  liberal  donations  of  land  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  who 
served  in  the  ranging  service  against  the  Indians,  on  our  West 
ern  frontier,  to  the  close  of  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain ; 
to  allow  all  letters  and  newspapers  to  be  sent  free  of  postage, 


ROBERT   SMITH.  477 

until  the  close  of  the  war,  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  our 
army  serving  in  Mexico. 

Among  the  reports  which  he  has  submitted,  we  notice  espe 
cially  a  report  showing  the  importance  of  the  improvement  of 
the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  at  Louisville,  to  the  commerce  of  that 
river  and  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  a  report  on  the 
petition  of  George  Wilkes,  and  on  several  other  memorials,  in 
relation  to  a  rail-road  from  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Missouri 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  report  is  adverse  to  the  prayer  of 
the  petitioners,  but  recommends  an  examination,  or  survey,  of 
the  country  between  what  is  known  as  the  North  Pass,  from  the 
upper  navigable  waters  of  the  Missouri  to  the  navigable  waters 
of  Clarke's  River,  which  empties  into  the  Columbia.  This  ex 
amination  is  recommended  with  a  view  to  the  establishment  of 
some  cheap  and  easy  means  of  communication  between  the  nav 
igable  waters  of  the  two  rivers. 


KING,  DANIEL  PUTNAM, 

a  native  of  Danvers,  Massachusetts,  where  he  still  resides. 
His  ancestors  emigrated  from  England  to  Salem  as  early  as 
1636.  From  that  time  to  the  present  they  have  resided  in 
Salem  and  Danvers  (formerly  a  part  of  Salem),  and  have  been 
principally  engaged  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  This  has 
been,  and  ^  continues  to  be,  his  own  occupation  and  amusement 
in  the  intervals  of  his  public  labors.  He  has  been  an  active 
member  and  officer  of  the  county  and  state  agricultural  socie 
ties,  and  has  on  several  occasions  received  premiums  for  the  suc 
cessful  management  of  his  farm,  and  for  improvements  in  farm 
ing.  When  the  bill  establishing  the  Smithsonian  Institute 
was  before  Congress,  he  offered  an  amendment,  which  was  re 
jected,  proposing  such  a  modification  of  the  plan  as  would  en 
able  the  students  to  pay  their  board  by  laboring  on  the  farm  of 
the  institution.  A  portion  of  his  time  he  spends  in  literary 
pursuits,  and  he  has  delivered,  on  several  occasions,  public  ad 
dresses  which  have  been  favorably  noticed.  Among  these,  we 
note  his  eulogy  at  the  funeral  of  General  Gideon  Foster ;  an 
address,  published  in  1835,  on  laying  the  comer  stone  of  a 
monument  in  commemoration  of  the  fate  of  seven  young  men 
of  his  native  town  who  were  slain  in  the  battle  of  Lexington, 
delivered  on  its  sixtieth  anniversary ;  an  address  before  the  Es 
sex  County  Agricultural  Society ;  and  an  address  at  a  meeting 
of  the  trustees  of  that  society,  upon  the  death  of  the  late  Lev- 
erett  Saltonstall,  who  was  Mr.  King's  immediate  predecessor 
in  Congress. 

He  was  graduated  in  1823  at  Harvard  University.  He  has 
had  no  professional  education,  nor  adopted  any  professional 
pursuit.  At  an  early  age  he  contemplated  the  study  of  the 
law,  but  abandoned  it,  and,  shortly  after  he  graduated,  was 
married  to  Sarah  Page,  daughter  of  Hezekiah  Flint,  of  Dan 
vers,  where,  upon  a  farm  inherited  by  his  wife,  he  commenced 
478 


•",%'•. 


DANIEL    PUTNAM   KING.  479 

the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  He  has  living  three  sons  and  four 
daughters.  Since  then  he  has  been  much  in  public  life.  Nev 
er  seeking  office,  his  people  appear  to  have  been  the  more  will 
ing  to  confer  it  upon  him.  His  political  cotemporaries,  it  is 
said,  call  him  the  " lucky  man;"  on  which  good-natured  sou 
briquet  he  himself  somewhere  remarks,  "If  to  obtain  office 
without  effort,  and  without  the  sacrifice  of  honor  and  principle, 
be  '  luck,'  then  have  I  had  my  full  share." 

In  1836-7  he  was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  House  of 
Representatives;  in  1838-9  a  member  of  the  Senate,  and  in 
1840-1,  president  of  that  body,  a  station  which,  before  his  time, 
we  believe,  had  always  been  filled  by  a  lawyer.  In  1843,  when 
parties  were  nearly  balanced  in  the  Legislature,  he  was  again 
a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and,  after  many  un 
successful  ballotings  for  other  candidates,  on  the  fourth  day  his 
name  was  brought  forward,  and  he  was  elected  speaker  by  a 
majority  of  one  vote,  in  a  House  containing  nearly  four  hund 
red  members.  The  records  show  that  his  character  and  capac 
ity  as  a  presiding  officer  were  appreciated  and  respected,  even 
in  those  times  of  high  political  excitement. 

At  an  early  period  of  life,  he  shared  with  Harrison  Gray 
Otis  alone  the  distinction  of  having  filled  the  station  of  presid 
ing  officer  of  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts. 
While  a  member  of  that  body,  he  was  often  appointed  on  im 
portant  committees.  Among  the  measures  reported  and  advo 
cated  by  him  was  the  one  which  authorized  an  agricultural 
survey  of  the  state,  a  measure  which  has  since  been  adopted 
by  other  states ;  also  several  other  surveys  and  measures  hav 
ing  for  their  objects  improvements  in  agricultural  and  natural 
sciences.  He  has  ever  interested  himself  warmly  in  the  cause 
of  benevolence  and  charity,  and  to  his  exertion,  in  part,  is  to  be 
attributed  the  great  enlargement  of  that  noble  monument  of 
the  benevolence  and  humanity  of  Massachusetts,  the  State  Lu 
natic  Hospital.  Of  this  institution  he  held  for  five  years,  un 
der  the  appointment  of  the  governor  and  council,  the  office  of 
trustee. 

Several  unsuccessful  efforts  to  elect  a  representative  from  the 
second  Congressional  District  of  his  state  having  been  made, 
he  was  nominated  for  the  office  while  yet  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  his  state,  and,  in  the  month  of  June, 


480  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

1843,  was  elected  by  a  small  majority.  He  has  since  been 
twice  re-elected  by  large  majorities,  though  at  special  elec 
tions. 

He  is  a  thorough  Whig.  As  a  debater  he  is  apt  and  ready, 
speaking  but  seldom,  and  when  he  does  speak,  directing  his 
remarks  at  once  to  the  point  under  discussion.  He  truly  says 
of  himself,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  the  last  Congress,  "  You, 
Mr.  Chairman,  who  have  been  an  attentive  member  since  I 
first  had  a  seat  in  this  hall,  know  that  I  have  seldom  address 
ed  the  House  except  with  the  purpose  of  affording  '  aid  and 
comfort'  to  some  of  the  many  deserving  citizens  who  have  suf 
fered  from  the  tardy  justice  of  their  country."  In  the  commit 
tee-room  he  is  an  active  and  efficient  man  of  business ;  and  to 
no  member  of  either  House  is  the  class  of  citizens  to  whom  he 
alludes  more  indebted  for  diligent  investigation  into  their  claims, 
or  for  unwearied  efforts  to  lead  them  to  successful  results.  We 
speak  particularly  of  that  class  of  claimants  falling  under  t}ie 
head  of  Revolutionary  Pensioners. 

He  has  entitled  himself  to  the  gratitude  of  sick  and  disabled 
seamen  in  all  parts  of  the  country  for  his  efforts  on  several  oc 
casions  in  bringing  the  House  to  vote  the  appropriations  requi 
site  to  supply  deficiencies  in  the  Marine  Hospital  fund ;  and,  in 
the  same  connection,  we  notice  propositions  introduced  by  him 
to  appropriate  money  for  the  payment  of  pensions  to  wounded 
privateersmen,  as  pledged  by  the  act  of  June  26th,  1812. 

It  has  been  a  favorite  project  of  his  to  prohibit  spirit-rations 
in  the  navy,  and  to  supply  money  as  a  substitute.  He  has,  in 
mor&  than  one  instance,  carried  amendments  to  this  effect 
through,  when  naval  appropriation  bills  were  under  considera 
tion. 

He  has  especially  vindicated  and  defended  the  policy  of  boun 
ties  to  vessels  employed  on  our  coast  fisheries.  He  has  argued 
that  the  policy  was  one  which  the  French  and  English  nations 
adopted ,  and  that,  if  the  bounty  was  taken  away,  the  vessels  of 
those  nations  would  come  into  our  ports  and  undersell  us. 

Among  the  more  local  measures  which  he  has  introduced  or 
advocated,  we  note,  appropriations  for  the  completion  of  the 
breakwater  at  Sandy  Bay ;  for  the  improvement  of  the  harbor 
at  Lane's  Cove  ;  for  the  preservation  of  Lynn  Harbor  and  Na- 
hant  Beach  ;  bills  to  erect  monuments  to  General  Warren  and 


DANIEL    PUTNAM    KING.  481 

General  Herkimer ;  and  a  proposition  for  the  erection  of  a  lu 
natic  asylum  for  the  reception  of  insane  persons  in  the  military 
and  naval  service  of  the  United  States,  of  the  insane  poor  of 
the  district,  and  such  other  insane  persons  as  might  be  com 
mitted  by  their  friends. 

He  was  one  of  the  "  fourteen"  who  voted  against  the  act 
of  the  13th  of  May,  1846,  recognizing  the  existence  of  war 
with  Mexico  [see  title,  ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP]  ;  and  he  has 
avowed  his  determination  to  vote  against  all  measures  not  de 
signed  for  its  speedy  termination.  On  the  16th  of  the  follow 
ing  July,  he  prepared  an  amendment  (which  was  rejected)  to 
the  bill  making  appropriations  for  the  support  of  volunteers  and 
other  troops,  providing  "  that  immediate  measures  be  taken  for 
the  peaceful  and  honorable  settlement  of  all  difficulties  and  dif 
ferences  between  this  country  and  the  sister  republic  of  Mex 
ico."  He  believes  the  war  to  be  unjust,  wanton,  unnecessary, 
and  unconstitutional.  "I  think,"  he  says,  "it  was  bad  in 
its  inception,  has  been  bad  in  its  progress,  and  that  nothing 
but  evil  can  be  its  consequences.  A  treaty  might  have  been 
made  and  peace  secured  without  recourse  to  these  last,  worst 
arguments,  the  cannon,  the  sword,  and  the  bayonet;  but  the 
object  desired  was  not  peace  with  Mexico,  but  a  piece  of  Mex 
ico.  I  may  have  erred  in  my  judgment,  but  such  was,  and  such 
remains,  my  honest  conviction.  In  a  minority  of  fourteen,  I 
voted  against  this  war  upon  a  feeble  and  distracted,  a  priest- 
ridden  and  faction-torn  sister  republic.  For  this  we  have  been 
called  traitors  and  cowards.  If  an  earnest  desire  to  save  my 
country  from  ruin  and  disgrace  be  treason,  then  am  I  a  traitor  ; 
if  the  fear  to  do  wrong  make  a  man  a  coward,  then  I  am  a  cow 
ard.  I  will  make  no  empty  boast  of  an  ardent  love  of  country, 
but  I  mean  that  my  life  and  conduct  shall  manifest  it.  I  hear 
many  men  talk  of  their  willingness  to  shed  the  last  drop  of 
blood  in  this  Mexican  war,  but  most  of  them  are  careful  not 
to  expose  themselves  where  they  may  shed  the  first  drop. 

"  I  will  sustain  and  defend  my  country  with  the  best  effort 
of  my  feeble  power  when  she  is  right,  and  when  I  think  she  is 
on  the  wrong  track  I  will  exert  my  best  efforts  to  get  her  on 
the  right.  He  is  the  coward  who  is  afraid  to  stand  up  manfully 
for  truth,  justice,  and  liberty.  He  is  a  coward  whose  voice  sticks 
in  his  throat  when  danger,  disgrace,  and  ruin  threaten  his  coun- 

.  I.— H  H 


482  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

try ;  who  is  afraid  to  raise  the  cry  and  sound  the  alarm  when 
the  Union  and  the  Constitution  are  in  imminent  peril.  He  is 
a  traitor  who,  for  hope  of  reward,  for  party  aggrandizement,  or 
executive  favor,  sells  his  own  integrity,  and  betrays  the  honor 
and  true  interests  of  the  country. 

"  The  question  whether  the  '  immortal  fourteen,'  as  they  have 
been  so  often  sneeringly  denominated,  are  indeed  cowards  and 
traitors — whether  they  are  right  or  wrong,  they,  I  think,  will 
be  willing  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  coming  times  and  after 
generations.  From  the  decision  of  good  and  wise  men  and  true 
patriots,  even  now,  I  shall  take  no  appeal.  If  the  gentlemen 
with  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  be  associated  in  this  impeach 
ment  made  by  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  naval  and  milita 
ry  forces,  and  by  his  retainers  and  partisans,  the  Trays,  Blanch 
es,  and  Sweethearts,  who  have  dutifully  joined  in  the  cry,  ask 
for  another  day  and  a  new  hearing ;  if  they  appeal  from  the  de 
cision  of  a  few  men,  mad  with  the  din  of  war,  drunk  with  a 
surfeit  of  blood,  and  thirsting  for  more,  I  can  only  advise  them 
to  call  for  witnesses  as  to  the  origin,  propriety,  and  necessity 
of  this  war,  such  statesmen  as  Van  Buren,  Calhoun,  Benton, 
and  many  others,  once  good  enough  Democrats,  but  now  in 
danger  of  being  turned  over  to  the  Federal  side.  By  this  charge 
of  treason  I  have  been  often  amused,  but  never  disturbed  or  an 
noyed.  The  President,  in  his  message  of  December  8th,  that 
same  most  remarkable  of  all  political  fictions,  says :  *  It  is  a  sub 
ject  of  congratulation  that  there  has  been  no  period  in  our  past 
history  when  all  the  elements  of  national  prosperity  have  been 
so  fully  developed.  Since  your  last  session,  no  afflicting  dispen 
sation  has  visited  our  country  !'  The  successor  of  Washington 
— but  with  what  immense  difference  of  dignity  ! — accuses  those 
who  represent  this  war  as  unjust  and  unnecessary,  of  giving 
'  aid  and  comfort'  to  the  enemy.  I  am  not  accountable  to  the 
President  for  my  opinions  or  ray  votes.  My  voice  is  free,  and 
so  shall  be  my  vote.  I  do  not  submit  to  his  dictation.  I  was 
sent  here  to  exercise  my  independent  judgment,  not  to  be  the 
mere  instrument  of  registering  the  executive  will.  I  do,  how 
ever,  acknowledge  my  accountability  to  my  constituents.  Since 
this  accusation  was  made  by  the  President,  the  people,  by  their 
verdict,  have  decided  whether  they  think  me  a  traitor  or  a  true 
man.  In  an  election  held  on  the  28th  of  that  same  month  of 


DANIEL   PI/TNAM   KING.  483 

December,  the  President's  cry  of  '  aid  and  comfort,'  echoed  by 
the  party  press,  yet  ringing  in  their  ears,  the  people  of  my  dis 
trict  have  re-elected  me  by  more  than  two  thousand  votes  ovei» 
my  miscalled  Democratic  competitor.  From  this  decision  I  can 
have  no  desire  to  take  an  appeal.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that 
all  the  others  of  the  calumniated  fourteen,  who  were  -'candidates, 
have  been  re-elected. 

"We  have  been  warned  that  opposition  to  this  war  would 
make  us  unpopular.  An  honest,  independent  freeman  will  ask, 
Is  th6  measure  right  ?  not,  Will  it  be  popular  ?  He  may  be 
willing  to  court  popular  favor,  but  he  will  never  become  her 
slave.  Popularity,  he  knows,  may  be  gained  with  little  merit, 
and  lost  by  as  little  fault.  In  th£  morning  it  may  put  forth  the 
fresh  green  leaves  of  perfume,  in  the  evening  they  may  wither 
and  die.  Popularity  is  a  frail  staff. 

"  A  friend  of  the  President  in  this  House,  a  gentleman  from 
Virginia  [Mr.  Bediriger],  has  said,  *  He  trusted  it  would  be  a  waf 
of  conquest ;  he  was  not  one  of  those  who  would  have  a  mild 
war,  who  were  afraid  of  striking  heavy  blows.  He  would  show* 
no  mercy  till  the  war  was  ended.  If  he  could  have  his  owii 
way,  one  blow  should  follow  another  without  mercy.'  And,  in 
the  bitterness  of  his  wrath,  he  did  not  spare  these  fourteen,  who, 
he  said,  '  were  destined  to  be  famous  in  story ;'  and,  so  help  him 
Heaven !  *  so  far  as  his  own  fame  and  future  reputation  were 
concerned,  he  would  infinitely  rather  be  the  poorest  volunteer 
whose  bones  moldered  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Bravo,  with  no 
stone  to  mark  his  grave,  no  requiem  but  the  wild  bird's  shriek 
and  the  howling  winds,  than  the  mightiest  Whig  orator  who 
thundered  forth  his  denunciations  of  the  war.' 

"  Now  I  am  no  orator,  as  the  gentleman  is ;  and  about  the 
manner  of  living,  of  dying,  and  of  burial,  there  may  be  a  dif 
ference  of  taste ;  but,  rather  than  be  pierced  or  stabbed  (perhaps 
in  the  back)  by  a  Mexican  sword  or  spear,  or  hacked  by  an  In 
dian  tomahawk  on  that  savage  shore, 

"'At  once  dispatch'd, 
Cut  off  even  in  the  blossom  of  my  sin, 
Unhousel'd,  unanointed,  unanneal'd,' 

I  should  prefer,  after  having  enjoyed  all  life's  blessings  and  per 
formed  all  life's  duties,  to  wrap  the  drapery  of  my  couch  about 
me,  and,  without  braggart  boasting  or  unmanly  fears,  await  my 


484  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

last  solemn  hour.  I  would  that  my  friends  should  drop  a  few 
natural  though  unavailing  tears,  and  then  that  they  should 
carry  out  my  bier  to  some  sequestered  spot,  where  overarching 
trees  might  drop  their  autumnal  leaves ;  and  there,  if  the  hand 
of  affection  should  ever  raise  a  stone,  let  it  have  only  this  in 
scription  :  A  LOVER  OF  PEACE,  OF  LIBERTY,  OF  HIS  COUNTRY — HE 

VOTED  AGAINST  THE  MEXICAN  WAR." 

Referring  to  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  to  the  prospects  of  its 
extension  through  the  medium  of  the  war,  he  said : 

"  For  once  let  the  South  know  that  some  Northern  men  have 
Northern  principles ;  that,  though  they  love  their  favor  and  ap 
probation  much,  they  love  more  the  favor  and  approbation  of 
their  own  neighbors  and  constituents,  and  still  more  the  appro 
bation  of  their  own  consciences.  On  this  great  question  of  the 
extension  of  slavery,  with  all  its  fearful  consequences,  let  it  nev 
er  be  said  of  any  one  representative  of  the  free  states  that  he 
sold  his  vote,  and,  '  like  the  base  Judean,'  for  a  few  pieces  of 
dirty  silver,  threw  away  a  pearl  worth  more  than  all  prospects 
of  political  advancement — worth  more  than  all  prospects  of  earth 
ly  enjoyment." 


ACE. 

sents  the  State  of  Delaware,  oompris- 
uftl  District.     He  was  born  at  Concord, 
v,  arid  at  an  early  a<r«  ooHEmenoed  his  education 
•  Newark  Academy.  ^iinty,  an  ol-' 

respectable  institution,  th* 
Andrew  K.  Russell,  a  & •'' 
Having  reti* 
whti  '^  1ft w  ^oi  •  ' 

tM  olfw*  of  John  M.  Clayton,  in  ifte  town  of  Dove^-aittd 

to  the  bar  in  1837.     Two  years  afterward  he 

.ad  to  Georgetown  in  his  native   county,  and  devoted 

himself  to  the  practice  of  his  profession.     His  suecfcs*  >»oth  as 

a  lawyer 'and  an  afhwrnt**,  w*j4  urn^t  m  iti  ft  ^  'o  at- 

iVMioe. 

Hied  hi 8  <','iriy  <jitt 
• 


and  ,  ft  conven 

tion  of  the  *>arn*  \*rt*  **  ^4*  r«^4%^t«d.     His  fin»t  Republican 

•  a  Democrat 

His  fati  -cratic   fj»"' 

^ji^.  mgly  adi  ^opinion,' 

Ic  even  to  the  name  in  the  utt. 
^in  was  educated  in  • 

/,  and  became'  a  "\ 

i  nifbrmly  all  -  ?» ?^^^p« 

^>^ifi»  frank  ^T*^ 

^.->.    &><-. 

maintained  the  reputation  of  a  consistent  and  an  upright  poli 
tician. 

485 


486  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  he  was  the  only  representative  from 
the  slaveholding  states  who  voted  in  favor  of  the  Wilmot  Pro 
viso.  This  vote  preceded  the  passage  of  an  act  by  the  House 
of  Representatives  of  his  own  state,  abolishing  slavery  within 
its  limits,  but  which  was  defeated  in  the  Senate.  It  is  under 
stood  that  the  question  of  the  abolition  of  this  institution  in  the 
State  of  Delaware  has  never  been  mooted  before  the  people, 
and  that,  if  it  were  so,  they  would  be  found,  at  present,  in  fav 
or  of  sustaining  it. 

The  reasons  of  Mr.  Houston  for  the  vote  to  which  we  have 
referred,  are  thus  cogently  stated  by  himself  in  answer  to  an 
inquiry  which  we  addressed  to  him : 

"  I  had  very  strong  objections  to  the  bill,  as  originally  report 
ed  to  the  House,  without  the  proviso,  and  I  could  not  vote  for 
the  passage  of  it  with  or  without  the  amendment  embodying  the 
slavery  restriction.  I  had  voted  against  the  bill  proposing  a  simi 
lar  appropriation  at  the  preceding  session  of  Congress,  and  I  have 
since  discovered  nothing  to  mitigate  my  opposition  to  it.  The 
messages  of  the  President  recommending  the  measure  simply 
advised  the  appropriation  of  two  millions  of  dollars  to  meet  any 
expenditure  which  it  might  be  necessary  to  make  in  advance, 
for  the  purpose  of  settling  our  difficulties  with  Mexico,  without 
stating  the  mode  in  which  the  money  was  to  be  used,  and  with 
out  the  slightest  intimation  on  his  part  of  the  basis  on  which 
he  proposed  to  adjust  those  difficulties ;  while  the  strong  sus 
picion  which  prevailed  of  the  venal  purposes  to  which  it  was 
to  be  applied,  rendered  the  recommendation  highly  repugnant 
to  the  feelings  of  many  members  with  whom  I  conversed  on 
the  occasion.  Though  not  asked  for  as  secret  service  money, 
the  imagination  could  not  fail,  in  the  absence  of  any  definite 
information  upon  the  subject,  and  in  the  mysterious  silence  of 
the  executive  as  to  the  mode  in  which  it  was  to  be  expended, 
to  connect  it  in  some  manner  with  the  recent  remarkable  re 
turn  of  General  Santa  Anna  to  Mexico,  and  the  obvious  intrigue 
by  which  that  return  had  been  effected.  Entertaining  these 
sentiments  myself,  I  could  not,  as  anxious  as  I  have  ever  been 
for  a  restoration  of  peace  between  the  two  countries,  consent  to 
commit  myself  to  the  unknown  purposes  and  policy  of  the  exec 
utive,  by  voting  for  the  appropriation  either  with  or  without  the 
proviso,  and  you  will  accordingly  find  my  vote  recorded  against 


JOHN   WALLACE   HOUSTON.  487 

the  passage  of  the  bill  in  either  of  these  conditions.  The  House 
of  Representatives  has  no  control  over  the  treaty-making  power 
of  the  government,  and  it  is  even  contended,  upon  very  high  au 
thority,  that  it  has  no  discretion  over  appropriations  called  for 
"by  a  treaty,  when  made  and  ratified  pursuant  to  the  provisions 
of  the  Constitution.  This,  it  must  be  confessed,  is  an  extreme 
principle  ;  and,  so  long  as  I  remain  one  of  the  representatives  of 
the  people,  I  can  never  consent  to  see  it  extended  in  its  opera 
tion  ;  and  I  shall,  accordingly,  always  vote  against  any  appropri 
ation  asked  in  advance  for  a  treaty  which  has,  as  yet,  no  exist 
ence  except  in  the  secret  views  and  purposes  of  the  President. 

"  These  were  my  principal  reasons  for  voting  against  the  bill 
with  or  without  the  slavery  restriction. 

"  I  now  proceed  to  state,  more  particularly,  my  reasons  for 
voting  for  the  amendment  incorporating  the  proviso ;  and,  in 
the  first  place,  I  would  remark,  that  the  amendment  presuppos 
ed,  not  only  in  the  mind  of  the  executive,  but  also  of  the  mover 
of  it,  that  the  war  was  prosecuted  with  a  view  to  the  acquisi 
tion  of  a  portion  of  the  territory  of  Mexico.  If  such  was  the 
object  of  it,  and  there  is  certainly  no  longer  any  room  to  doubt 
it,  it  is  evident  that  the  design  originated  with  the  President 
and  his  immediate  advisers,  in  order  to  strengthen  and  extend 
the  peculiar  institution  of  the  South,  and  to  secure  and  perpet 
uate  the  ascendency  of  Southern  interests  and  Southern  influ 
ences  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  It  was  the  same  motive 
which  induced  the  annexation  of  Texas  ;  and  I  regarded  it  as  a 
mere  continuation  of  the  iniquitous  scheme  of  the  authors  and 
abettors  of  that  measure  further  to  increase  and  extend  their 
power,  at  the  expense  of  the  legitimate  and  constitutional  rights 
of  the  other  sections  of  the  country.  Convinced  that  such  was 
the  bold  and  fraudulent  purpose  of  the  President,  and  of  those 
who  have  ever  been  willing  to  pander  to  the  lust  of  the  South 
for  further  territorial  acquisitions,  and  the  ambitious  projects 
by  which  a  certain  class  of  her  unscrupulous  politicians  are  now 
seeking  to  consolidate  her  supremacy  in  the  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Federal  government,  I  deemed  it  perfectly  fair 
and  legitimate  to  thwart  their  policy  and  defeat  their  object  by 
embarrassing  the  appropriation  with  the  proviso;  that  is,  by 
declaring,  that  if  they  were  determined  to  persist  in  their  base 
and  selfish  purpose  of  despoiling  Mexico  of  a  portion  of  her  right- 


488  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

ful  territory,  then  they  must  take  it  subject  to  this  slavery  re 
striction.  This  I  considered  the  most  direct  and  efficient  way 
of  arresting  their  policy,  and  deterring  them  from  the  further 
prosecution  of  their  scheme  of  territorial  and  sectional  aggrand 
izement.  These  were  briefly  the  considerations  of  expediency 
which  influenced  and  secured  my  vote  in  favor  of  the  amend 
ment  to  the  bill  containing  the  proviso ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
I  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that  I  am  not  in  favor  of  the  intro 
duction  of  slavery  into  any  part  of  Mexico  from  which  it  has 
been  excluded  by  the  common  consent  of  all  her  citizens ;  and 
I  trust  that  we  shall  never  be  called  upon  to  contemplate  the 
anomalous  spectacle  of  a  free  people  involved  in  arms,  and  bat 
tling  with  a  heroism  and  a  courage  worthy  of  the  best  of  causes, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  extending  the  area  of  slavery  ;  and  may 
we  never  be  called  on  to  witness  our  own  government  exhibiting 
all  its  power  and  all  its  strength  to  force  the  institution  on  a  re 
luctant  people  in  any  quarter  of  the  globe.  This  is  the  sentiment 
which,  as  a  slaveholder,  and  the  representative  of  a  state  in 
which  this  institution  of  domestic  slavery  is  recognized  by  law, 
I  entertain  upon  this  great  and  vital  subject.  It  is  a  very  dif 
ferent,  and,  as  I  conceive,  a  far  more  momentous  question  than 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  States.  As  the  institution  now 
exists  in  the  States,  the  general  government  has  no  power  over 
it.  It  is  entirely  subject  to  their  own  laws  and  to  the  control 
of  their  respective  Legislatures,  and  can  not  and  should  not  be 
abolished,  except  by  the  consent  of  the  people  thereof.  No  man 
is  more  disposed  than  I  am  to  abide  implicitly  by  the  compro 
mises  of  the  Constitution  on  this  delicate  and  important  sub 
ject,  or  would  go  further  to  defend  the  rights  of  the  States  in 
regard  to  it ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  I  hold,  and  am  free  to  de 
clare,  that  if  the  authors  of  this  scheme  of  territorial  plunder 
will  persist  in  their  violation  of  the  spirit  and  compromises  of 
that  Constitution  by  seeking  to  strengthen  and  fortify  their 
sectional  interests  and  sectional  objects  in  the  acquisition  of 
foreign  territory  on  our  southern  and  southwestern  border,  then 
they  must  take  it,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  subject  to  this  re 
striction  as  to  slavery." 

It  is  known  to  the  country  that,  on  the  3d  day  of  January 
last,  a  resolution,  in  the  form  of  an  amendment  to  an  original 
joint  resolution,  passed  the  House  of  Representatives,  declaring 


JOHN   WALLACE    HOUSTON.  489 

the  war  with  Mexico  to  have  been  "  unnecessarily  and  uncon 
stitutionally  begun  by  the  President  of  the  United  States." 
The  record  of  that  transaction  is  thus  given  in  the  "  Congres 
sional  Globe :" 

"  Mr.  Houston,  of  Delaware — previous  notice  having  been 
given — introduced  the  following  joint  resolution  of  thanks  to 
Major-general  Taylor : 

"  iResolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
the  thanks  of  Congress  are  due,  and  they  are  hereby  tendered, 
to  Major-general  Zachary  Taylor,  and,  through  him,  to  the  offi 
cers  and  soldiers  of  the  regular  army  and  of  the  volunteers  un 
der  his  command,  for  their  indomitable  valor,  skill,  and  good 
conduct,  conspicuously  displayed  on  the  22d  and  23d  days  of 
February  last,  in  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista,  in  defeating  a  nu 
merous  Mexican  army,  consisting  of  four  times  their  number, 
and  composed  of  chosen  troops,  under  their  favorite  command 
er,  General  Santa  Anna,  and  thereby  obtaining  a  victory  over 
the  enemy,  which,  for  its  signal  and  brilliant  character,  is  un 
surpassed  in  the  military  annals  of  the  world. 

"'Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  re 
quested  to  cause  to  be  struck  a  gold  medal,  with  devices  em 
blematical  of  this  splendid  achievement,  and  presented  to  Ma 
jor-general  Taylor,  as  a  testimony  of  the  high  sense  entertained 
by  Congress  of  his  judicious  and  distinguished  conduct  on  that 
memorable  occasion. 

"'Resolved,  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  re 
quested  to  cause  the  foregoing  resolutions  to  be  communicated 
to  Major-general  Taylor  in  such  manner  as  he  may  deem  best 
calculated  to  effect  the  objects  thereof.' 

"  Mr.  Evans,  of  Maryland,  desired  to  offer  an  amendment, 
which  he  sent  up  to  the  clerk's  table,  and  moved  the  previous 
question  on  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  and  resolutions. 

"  The  speaker  stated  that  the  resolutions  were  not  now  open 
to  amendment. 

"  Mr.  Cummins  inquired  if  they  could  now  be  considered  as 
a  matter  of  course,  if  objections  were  made. 

"  The  speaker  replied,  that  the  resolutions  having  been  re 
ceived,  they  would  now  be  read  a  first  time  by  their  title.  Aft 
er  the  first  reading,  if  objections  were  made,  they  would  lie 
over  for  a  second  reading  until  to-morrow. 


490  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

•"  The  resolutions  having  been  read  a  first,  and,  no  objection 
being  made,  a  second  time, 

•"  Mr.  Jamieson  moved  their  commitment  to  the  Committee 
on  Military  Affairs. 

"  Mr.  Evans  now  proposed  to  offer  his  amendment,  and  re 
newed  his  demand  for  the  previous  question  thereon. 

"  The  speaker  replied  that,  their  commitment  being  called 
for,  that  question  was  first  in  order. 

"'The  question  then  being  on  committing  to  the  Committee 
an  Military  Affairs, 

"  Mr.  Gayle  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays. 

"  Mr.  Jamieson  withdrew  the  motion  to  commit. 

•"  Mr.  Schenck  renewed  it. 

"  Mr.  Houston,  of  Delaware,  said  he  apprehended  there  would 
be  no  objection  to  the  adoption  of  the  resolution.  No  gentle 
man  in  this  House  would  vote  against  a  resolution  of  thanks  to 
General  Taylor  and  the  officers  of  his  command. 

"  The  speaker  reminded  the  gentleman  from  Delaware  that 
debate  was  not  in  order. 

"  Mr.  Evans  again  intimated  his  desire  to  offer  the  following 
amendment : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  capitulation  of  Monterey  meets  with 
the  entire  sanction  and  approbation  of  this  Congress,  and  that 
the  terms  of  that  capitulation  were  as  creditable  to  the  human 
ity  and  skill  of  the  gallant  Taylor  as  the  achievement  of  the 
victory  of  Monterey  was  glorious  to  our  arms.' 

"  Some  conversation  ensued  between  the  speaker,  Mr.  Evans, 
Mr.  Schenck,  and  others. 

"  Mr.  Houston,  of  Delaware,  to  obviate  all  difficulties,  moved 
the  previous  question  on  the  original  resolution. 

"  The  previous  question  was  not  seconded. 

"  The  speaker  again  announced  the  question  to  be  on  the  mo 
tion  to  refer  to  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs. 

"  Mr.  Henley  moved  to  amend,  by  adding  instructions  to  the 
committee  to  add  the  words  *  engaged  as  they  were  in  defend 
ing  the  rights  and  honor  of  the  nation.'  On  this  he  asked  for 
the  yeas  and  nays. 

"Mr.  Ashmun  moved  to  amend  the  amendment  by  adding 
the  words  '  in  a  war  unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  be 
gun  by  the  President  of  the  United  States.' 


JOHN   WALLACE   HOUSTON. 

"  Mr.  M'Lane  said,  before  he  recorded  his  vote,  he  desired — 

"  The  speaker  interposed,  and  informed  the  gentleman  from 
Maryland  that  debate  was  not  in  order ;  if  the  resolution  be 
came  the  subject  of  debate,  it  would  go  over  until  to-morrow. 

"  Mr.  M'Lane  said  he  had  an  amendment  to  offer. 

"  The  speaker  said  no  amendment  was  in  order  at  present. 

"  After  some  further  conversation,  the  yeas  and  nays  were 
ordered  on  Mr.  Ashmun's  amendment  to  the  amendment,  and, 
being  taken,  they  resulted  as  follows  : 

"  Yeas :  Messrs.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Ashmun,  Barringer, 
Barrow,  Belcher,  Botts,  Brady,  Buckner,  Canby,  Clingman, 
Cocke,  Collamer,  Conger,  Cranston,  Crowell,  Crozier,  Dickey, 
Dixon,  Donnell,  Duer,  Daniel  Duncan,  Garnett  Duncan,  Dunn, 
Eckert,  Edwards,  Alexander  Evans,  Nathan  Evans,  Fisher,  Ful 
ton,  Gayle,  Gentry,  Giddings,  Goggin,  Grinnell,  Hale,  Nathan 
K.  Hall,  J.  G.  Hampton,  Haskell,  Henry,  John  W.  Houston, 
Hubbard,  Hudson,  Irvin,  Kellogg,  Thomas  Butler  King,  Daniel 
P.  King,  Lincoln,  M'llvaine,  Marsh,  Marvin,  Mullin,  Nes,  New- 
all,  Preston,  Putnam,  Reynolds,  Julius  Rockwell,  John  A.  Rock 
well,  Root,  Rumsey,  St.  John,  Schenck,  Shepperd,  Sherrill, 
Slingerland,  Caleb  B.  Smith,  Truman  Smith,  Stephens,  An 
drew  Stewart,  Strohm,  Sylvester,  Thibodeaux,  Taylor,  Tomp- 
kins,  Richard  W.  Thompson,  John  B.  Thompson,  Toombs,  Tuck, 
Van  Dyke,  Vinton,  Warren,  and  Wilson — 82. 

"  Nays :  Messrs.  Beale,  Bedinger,  Birdsall,  Black,  Bowdon, 
Brodhead,  William  G.  Brown,  Charles  Brown,  Cathcart,  Chase, 
Beverly  L.  Clark,  Howell  Cobb,  Williamson  R.  W.  Cobb,  Cum 
mins,  Daniel,  Dickinson,  Faran,  Featherston,  Ficklin,  Fries, 
French,  Green,  Willard  P.  Hall,  Moses  Hampton,  Harmanson, 
Harris,  Henley,  Hill,  George  S.  Houston,  Inge,  Charles  J.  In- 
gersoll,  Jamieson,  Jenkins,  Andrew  Johnson,  Robert  W.  John 
son,  George  W.  Jones,  Kaufman,  Kennon,  Lahm,  La  Sere,  Sid 
ney  Lawrence,  Leffler,  Ligon,  Lord,  Lumpkin,  M'Clelland, 
M'Clernand,  M'Dowell,  M'Lane,  Mann,  Meade,  Miller,  Morris, 
Morse,  Murphy,  Peaslee,  Peck,  Phelps,  Pilsbury,  Rhett,  Rich 
ardson,  Richey,  Robinson,  Rockhill,  Sawyer,  Sims,  Smart,  Rob 
ert  Smith,  Stanton,  Starkweather,  Charles  E.  Stuart,  Strong, 
Thomas,  James  Thompson,  Jacob  Thompson,  William  Thomp 
son,  Thurston,  Turner,  Venable,  Wick,  and  Williams — 81. 

"  So  the  amendment  of  Mr.  Ashmun  was  agreed  to. 


492  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

"  Mr.  Houston,  of  Delaware,  inquired  if  it  would  be  in  order 
to  move  to  lay  the  amendment,  as  amended,  on  the  table. 

"  The  speaker  replied  in  the  negative. 

"  Mr.  Cobb  asked  for  the  reading  of  the  amendment  as  amend 
ed. 

"  Mr.  Hale  asked  for  the  reading  of  the  resolution  as  well  as 
the  instructions,  as  amended. 

"  The  instructions,  as  amended,  having  first  been  read,  Mr. 
Cobb  rose  and  said :  '  The  amendment  offered  by  the  gentle 
man  from  Indiana  [Mr.  Henley],  as  amended  by  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts  [Mr.  Ashmun],  presents  such  a  remarka 
ble  issue,  that  I  must  propose  to  discuss  it.' 

"  The  subject,  accordingly,  lies  over  until  to-morrow,  under 
the  rule." 

The  term  "  to-morrow"  is  here  used  in  parliamentary  appli 
cation,  and  may  mean  an  indefinite  duration  of  time.  The 
House  had  dealt  with  the  subject  no  further  when  we  closed 
this  memoir. 


MAS  11  E          •> 

i  .«:a?.s  that   section  of  ; 

A*  tfte  A  ecomac  District,  and  former. 
?****,  represented  by  Henry  A.  Wise,  late  minister  a 

Brazil.     The  district  at  pre.sor*t  c*  -Jv-- 

York,  Accomac,  Northampton.  V. 
Kent.  Mathews,  -Girac&jft**,  L«^«iMter7  **t5*i  NVthu 
her  with  Bii*ab*tk  City,  James  City,  Ohwrles 
tlie  Ci*;.  ^.WiUianwburg. 

«*tfcra  £r«  [ready  public  thai,  Mr.  Bayly 

.•u»  i-      v  irr;iiii  ;..    i,-.  fl.      i  '  L?;    •.'  r'-  •- 

He  is  the  son  of  Colonel  Thomas  M.  Bayly, 

arid  the  grandson,  on  the  maternal  side,  of  rj-f.ricra!  John  Gr</!»« 

per,  a  distinguk»b^  officer  in  tJ^t f  ^^t?^?  "%&&$  &&*&&:.      r 

Revolutionary  ^ar,  rs:.-^>4t^l 

;..  .ai4^ftn  •       *•  « 


pi***  ^  resided.     His  grandfathers  were 

•••'.Tf  i»t  til;-/   'r-:-. 
graduate  of  Pftf*  .  ^Asst^.4  j**!**e  jtfc  in  1796,  and 

NABpfcMittl  1831. 

time  be  wa  inbor  of  the  !> 

;-ud  Senate  of  Virginia  ;  a  r  of  Cong 

this  time  represented  by  his  son,  : 
Contverujfti  which  framed  the  Con.^ 
^e-dM  A  IS- 

^  ted  bis  eollegiai  -   .^*m&  % 
«':  studied  law,  r  ; 
ilz  rose  rapui'  $•-.  &  \ 

• 

493 


494  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

In  1836,  so  soon  as  he  was  eligible,  under  the  Constitution 
of  Virginia,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Assem 
bly  of  his  state  by  a  large  majority,  over  two  gentlemen,  both 
of  whom  had  for  a  long  time  represented  the  county.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  session  of  1836-7,  Mr.  Leigh,  then  late 
senator  of  the  United  States,  sent  in  his  letter  defending  his 
course  in  refusing  to  obey  instructions  of  the  preceding  Legis 
lature.  It  was  referred  to  a  select  committee,  of  which  Mr. 
Bayly  was  a  member.  On  that  occasion-  h^  made  his  first 
speech  in  the  Assembly.  It  was  a  defense  of  the  right  of  in 
struction. 

In  the  summer  of  1836,  General  S.  E.  Parker,  brigadier  gen 
eral,  having  died,  it  became  the  duty  of  the  Legislature  to  elect 
a  successor  to  the  command.  Major  Bayly,  as  he  then  ranked, 
was  elected  by  a  large  majority  over  several  competitors,  at  a 
time  of  life  at  which  no  man  in  the  state  had  ever  been  elected 
to  the  same  office.  He  commanded  the  brigade,  which  his 
grandfather  had  commanded  before  him,  until  his  election  in 
1842  to  a  judicial  office.  He  is  hence  familiarly  known  as 
General  Bayly. 

The  circumstances  attending  this  election  we  find  thus  stat 
ed  in  a  public  notice  by  a  distinguished  Virginian : 

"Young  and  inexperienced  as  Mr.  Bayly  was  in  public  af 
fairs,  he  became  so  quickly  old  in  fame,  that  the  General  As 
sembly  paid  a  handsome  and  unprecedented  compliment  to  him. 
It  is  worthy  of  note,  and  ought  to  be  remembered  as  a  leading 
incentive  to  other  men.  Early  in  1837,  when  the  Legislature 
were  in  the  actual  execution  of  a  joint  order  for  the  election  of 
a  brigadier  general  for  Eastern  Virginia,  Mr.  Bayly  rose  and 
nominated  for  that  office  his  neighbor,  Colonel  John  G.  Joynes, 
the  worthy  senator  from  the  Accomac  District.  Mr.  Poulson 
followed,  and  nominated  Colonel  Edward  Sneed,  the  officer  old 
est  in  command  next  to  Colonel  Joynes.  Then  Mr.  Segar,  a 
talented  member  of  the  House,  rose  and  asked  Mr.  Bayly,  as  a 
personal  favor,  to  retire  from  the  hall  for  a  short  time.  Think 
ing  it  possible  that  Mr.  Segar  might  endeavor  to  defeat  the 
election  of  Colonel  Joynes,  Mr.  Bayly  refused  to  retire.  Mr. 
Segar  then  boldly  nominated  Mr.  Bayly,  who  promptly  protest 
ed  against  that  freedom  with  his  name,  and  urged  the  mem 
bers  to  vote  for  Colonel  Joynes.  Yet,  against  his  earnest  in- 


I 
THOMAS   HENRY   BAYLY.  495 

clinations  and  public  remonstrances,  Mr.  Bayly  was  hurried 
over  the  intermediate  grades  of  military  service,  and  raised  by 
the  spontaneous  acclamations  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the 
head  of  a  brigade." 

On  the  4th  of  March,  1839,  Mr.  Rives's  term  of  service  ex 
pired  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  the  question  of 
his  re-election  came  up  in  that  year  before  the  Legislature. 
Mr.  Bayly  took  the  lead  in  opposition  to  him,  and,  during  the 
contest,  delivered  several  speeches,  which  were  extensively  cir 
culated  in  pamphlet  form. 

About  this  time  the  controversy  arose  between  New  York 
and  Virginia,  growing  out  of  the  refusal  of  the  governor  of  the 
former  state  to  surrender,  upon  the  demand  of  the  executive 
of  Virginia,  three  fugitives  from  justice,  who  had  been  charged 
with  inveigling  slaves  from  their  masters.  Mr.  Bayly  was 
chairman  of  the  select  committee  which,  for  two  successive 
sessions,  had  charge  of  the  subject.  The  opportunity  was  thus 
presented  to  him  of  turning  to  practical  account  the  knowledge 
he  had  acquired  of  constitutional  law,  for  the  study  of  which 
he  had  always  evinced  great  partiality.  The  effective  vindica 
tion,  which,  in  this  capacity,  he  presented  of  the  rights  of  Vir 
ginia,  as  in  contradistinction  to  what  she  believed  to  be  the 
unwarrantable  assumptions  of  the  executive  of  New  York,  elic 
ited  the  strongest  commendations  from  the  people  of  his  state. 

In  1841  Judge  Upshur  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
Mr.  Bayly  was  elected  to  succeed  him  in  the  office  of  judge  of 
the  Circuit  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Chancery  by  a  very  large 
majority  of  the  Legislature.  Of  that  body  a  majority  was  po 
litically  opposed  to  him,  yet  he  received  the  votes  of  many  dis 
tinguished  Whigs,  and  was  elected  over  two  gentlemen,  one  of 
whom  has  since  been  appointed  judge  of  the  Federal  Court  of 
the  Eastern  District  of  Virginia,  and  the  other  of  whom  was: 
subsequently  chosen  successor  to  Mr.  Bayly  when  the  latter 
was  elected  to  Congress.  When  he  resigned  his  seat  in  the 
Legislature,  the  members  of  the  two  houses,  without  distinc 
tion  of  party,  gave  him  a  public  entertainment.  He  held  his 
judicial  office  for  two  years,  meeting  its  responsibilities  and 
discharging  its  duties  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  circuit,  as 
was  attested  by  the  general  sentiment  of  regret  which  was  ex 
pressed  at  his  resignation. 


496  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS, 

In  1844,  when  Mr.  Wise  was  confirmed  as  minister  to  Bra 
zil,  Mr.  Bayly  was  simultaneously  nominated  as  his  successor 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  each  of  the  counties  of  his 
district,  without  any  concert,  and  each  declaring  that  a  dis 
trict  convention  was  unnecessary.  The  Democratic  party,  at 
that  time,  had  met  with  reverses  in  almost  every  direction,  the 
Whigs  having  succeeded,  in  several  special  elections,  in  dis 
tricts  which  before  had  been  represented  by  Democrats ;  and 
Mr.  Bayly  was  appealed  to  by  leading  Republicans  throughout 
the  state,  who  thought  that  he  alone  could  carry  the  district,  to 
consent  to  become  a  candidate.  He  felt  a  strong  attachment  for 
judicial  pursuits,  but  consented  to  accept  the  nomination,  hav 
ing,  as  a  preparatory  step,  resigned  his  judicial  office,  against 
the  remonstrance  of  many  of  his  friends,  who  thought  that,  as 
the  contest  was  a  doubtful  one,  he  ought  not  to  make  such  a  sac 
rifice.  He  was  elected  over  his  Whig  competitor  by  a  large 
majority,  in  a  district  which  had  given  General  Harrison  a 
majority  of  fifteen  hundred  out  of  about  four  thousand,  and 
which  had  been  called  "the  Banner  Whig  District  of  the  Un 
ion."  In  the  fall  of  1844,  the  same  district  gave  Mr.  Clay  a 
majority  of  four  hundred  and  fifty ;  yet,  in  the  following  spring, 
Mr.  Bayly  was  re-elected  over  one  of  the  most  popular  and  em 
inent  men  in  the  state,  by  a  majority  of  upward  of  two  hund 
red  ;  and  in  the  spring  of  18^7  he  was  again  elected  by  a 
majority  of  nearly  three  hundred. 

As  a  member  of  the  national  representative  body,  he  has 
zealously  upheld  the  principles  and  measures  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  In  the  matter  of  Oregon  [see  title,  S.  A.  DOUG 
LAS]  he  differed  with  the  mass  of  his  party,  having,  in  common 
with  others  of  the  Virginia  delegation,  voted  against  the  notice 
to  Great  Britain  for  the  termination  of  the  convention  of  joint 
occupation.  He  believed  that  the  subject  was  still  a  proper 
one  for  negotiation ;  he  approved  of  the  effort  which  the  Pres 
ident  had  made 'to  settle  the  controversy  in  that  way.  He  ap 
proved  of  his  course  in  offering  the  forty-ninth  parallel,  and 
thought  it  would  be  a  happy  termination  of  the  difficulty  if  it 
could  be  settled  on  that  basis.  He  did  not  believe  that  this 
mode  of  settlement  had  yet  been  exhausted,  nor  that,  in  this 
peaceful  age,  two  such  nations  as  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  could  not  settle  such  a  question  by  negotiation.  He 


THOMAS   HENRY   BAYLY.  497 

scarcely  admitted  the  possibility  that  two  such  nations,  both 
of  whom  had  so  much  to  gain  by  peace,  and  so  much  to  lose 
by  war,  would  fall  into  hostilities  on  such  a  question.  He 
thought  it  would  be  a  crime  in  them  to  do  so,  and  would  be  so 
regarded  by  the  wise  and  the  good  of  Christendom.  He  denied 
that  there  was  any  thing  in  the  correspondence  between  the 
two  governments  to  show  that  this  mode  of  settlement  had 
been  exhausted.  He  declared  he  would  not  vote  for  the  "no 
tice"  until  we  had  made  such  reasonable  preparations  as  would1 
meet  the  first  shock  of  war,  in  the  possible  contingency  of  that 
event.  He  wished  to  see  the  preparations  made  first ;  and, 
until  that  was  done,  he  avowed  that  he  would  vote  for  no  meas 
ure,  except  under  a  stronger  necessity  than  he  then  saw,  which 
even  might  bring  on  a  war  with  such  a  power  as  Great  Brit 
ain.  He  did  not,  however,  insist  upon  any  protracted  delay  in 
settling  the  question.  But  he  did  not  wish  to  restrict  the  pe 
riod  within  which  this  might  be  done  to  twelve  months,  par 
ticularly  while,  he  contended,  we  were  losing  nothing  by  the 
delay,  and  might,  in  the  mean  time,  prepare  for  the  event.  He 
then  added : 

"In  view  of  some  of  the  considerations  which  I  have  pre 
sented,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  I  will  not  vote  for  the  no 
tice,  if  nothing  shall  occur  before  the  adjournment  of  Congress 
to  make  it  unnecessary,  provided  I  see  Congress  setting  about  in 
earnest  to  prepare  for  the  emergency.  But  I  will  not  vote  for 
it  now.  To-morrow  I  may  regret  it  if  I  do.  To-morrow  I  can 
not  regret  not  having  done  it  to-day ;  for,  if  I  shall  then  see  the 
propriety  of  it,  I  can  do  it  at  once.  What  I  am  willing  to  do 
now  is  to  carry  out  the  other  recommendations  of  the  President. 
I  am  willing  'to  extend  our  laws  regulating  trade  and  inter 
course  with  the  Indians  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  such 
tribes  as  dwell  beyond  them.'  I  am  willing  .to  vote  '  that  pro 
vision  be  made  for  establishing  an  Indian  agency,  and  such  sub- 
agencies  as  may  be  deemed  necessary,  beyond  the  Rocky  Mount 
ains/  '  For  the  protection  of  emigrants  while  on  their  way 
to  Oregon,  against  the  attacks  of  the  Indian  tribes  occupying 
the  country  through  which  they  pass.'  I  am  willing  to  provide 
*  that  a  suitable  number  of  stockades  and  block-house  forts  be 
erected  along  the  usual  route  between  our  frontier  settlements 
on  the  Missouri  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  that  an  ade- 

VOL.  L— 1 1 


498  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

quate  force  of  mounted  riflemen  be  raised  to  guard  and  protect 
them  on  their  journey.'  I  am  willing  to  extend  '  the  protection 
of  our  laws,  both  civil  and  criminal,  over  our  citizens  in  Ore 
gon.'  All  these  recommendations  of  the  President  I  am  will 
ing  to  aid  in  carrying  out.  But,  for  the  reasons  I  have  given, 
I  can  not  vote  at  this  time  for  giving  the  notice  for  the  termi 
nation  of  the  Convention  of  1818." 

He  has  voted  against  appropriations  for  internal  improve 
ments.  He  denies  that  the  government  possesses  the  constitu 
tional  power  to  carry  on  such  a  system,  and  is  of  opinion  that, 
even  if  the  power  existed,  its  exercise  would  be  inexpedient. 
He  sustained  Mr.  Tyler  at  the  first  session  of  the  twenty-eighth 
Congress,  in  his  veto  of  the  bill  then  known  as  the  Eastern 
Harbor  Bill,  and  in  the  twenty-ninth  Congress  voted  to  sus 
tain  Mr.  Polk  in  his  veto  of  the  general  River  and  Harbor  Bill. 
In  the  first  of  these  two  cases  he  entered  into  an  elaborate  de 
fense  of  the  veto  power,  justifying  it  as  democratic  in  its  na 
ture,  as  one  of  the  most  conservative  and  republican  features 
of  the  Constitution,  and  as  having  a  direct  tendency  to  sustain 
popular  supremacy.  Speaking  of  Mr.  Tyler,  he  said : 

"  I  will  not  be  betrayed  into  a  defense  of  the  President  against 
the  attacks  which  have  been  made  upon  him.  The  time  has 
not  arrived  when  he  can  have  justice  done  him;  but  it  will 
come.  When  the  passions  of  the  present  hour  have  passed 
away,  and  Reason  has  resumed  her  empire,  he  will  be  esteemed 
one  of  the  boldest  of  the  defenders  of  the  Constitution,  and  his 
memory  will  be  cherished  with  gratitude  for  much  he  has  done, 
when  many  of  those  who  revile  him  will  be  forgotten,  or  only 
remembered  to  have  execrations  heaped  upon  their  names." 

With  not  less  emphasis  did  he  uphold  Mr.  Polk  in  his  veto 
of  the  other  bill  mentioned.  He  thought  that  it  placed  the  Pres 
ident,  if  he  did  not  stand  there  before,  on  the  ground  of  the 
most  orthodox  Republicans,  and  that  his  construction  of  the  Con 
stitution  rescued  the  clause  which  gave  to  Congress  the  power 
to  regulate  commerce  from  the  sweeping  character  which  the 
ingenuity  of  politicians  had  endeavored  to  place  upon  it. 

He  has  co-operated  heartily  with  the  present  administration 
in  all  the  measures  of  its  financial  policy,  and  especially  in  its 
opposition  to  the  protective  system.  His  speeches  on  this  branch 
of  national  politics  are  undoubtedly  among  the  most  powerful 


THOMAS   HENRY   BAYLY.  499 

and  argumentative  delivered  in  either  house.  We  note  espe 
cially  his  speech  in  reply  to  Mr.  Hudson,  of  Massachusetts,  on 
the  corn-trade  of  England,  as  one  which  called  forth  many  trib 
utes  of  praise  from  public  and  private  sources,  as  well  foreign 
as  domestic.  He  believes  that  the  power  to  levy  protective  du 
ties  is  not  only  without  warrant  in  the  Constitution,  but  that 
it  is  palpably  in  derogation  of  its  spirit.  He  contended  that 
other  nations  are  throwing  off  commercial  shackles  which  were 
the  growth  of  centuries,  and  that  we  must  follow  their  exam 
ple.  He  believes  that  the  days  of  the  restrictive  policy  are  num 
bered,  and  that,  though  it  may  drag  out  a  sickly  existence  for  a 
brief  period,  yet  it  will  pass  away  to  be  remembered  only  by  its 
folly. 

The  consistency  of  his  political  course  having  been  made  the 
subject-matter  of  comment  in  the  House,  the  following  explan 
atory  remarks  seem  entitled  to  a  place  here.  They  have  refer 
ence  to  some  observations  made  by  Garrett  Davis,  of  Kentucky  : 

"  'But  the  gentleman  does  not  choose  to  confine  himself  to 
accusations  of  inconsistency  in  reference  merely  to  the  question 
before  the  House ;  he  has  traveled  out  of  the  record,  as  the  law 
yers  say,  in  order  to  inform  the  House  that  in  1840  I  was  a 
Whig,  and  had,  at  one  time,  made  Whig  speeches  in  Ohio.  I 
tell  the  gentleman  that  he  is  totally  misinformed.  I  dislike  the 
appearance  of  vanity — the  egotism  which  speaking  of  myself 
implies.  The  remarks  of  the  gentleman,  however,  make  it  ne 
cessary  to  give  a  formal  contradiction  to  his  statements.  The 
first  vote  I  ever  gave  in  my  life  was  for  General  Jackson,  in 
1832,  against  the  venerable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts.' 

"  A  member.  '  Mr.  Clay.' 

"Mr.  Bayly.  'I  thank  my  colleague  for  the  correction;  it 
was  against  the  Magnus  Apollo  of  Kentucky  that  I  cast  my 
vote  in  favor  of  General  Jackson.' 

"  Mr.  Davis.  '  May  I  ask  the  gentleman  a  question?' 

"  The  Speaker.  '  Yes,  if  the  gentleman  admits  it,  and  it  be 
in  explanation.' 

"  Mr.  Bayly.  '  I  am  ready  to  hear  the  question.' 

"  Mr.  Davis.  *  I  ask  the  gentleman,  then,  whether  he  did  not 
vote  for  Genera]  Harrison  ?' 

"  Mr.  Bayly.  '  I  believe  I  can  answer  that  question  to  your 
satisfaction.  In  1836,  the  competitors  for  the  presidency  were 


500  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  Hugh  L.  White,  and  William  H.  Harri 
son.  I  believed  that  Judge  White  was  as  good  a  Republican  as 
Mr.  Van  Buren.  Both  were  against  the  bank ;  both  were  against 
internal  improvements.  Judge  White  denied  the  power  of  Con 
gress  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  Mr.  Van 
Buren,  although  he  repudiated  the  propriety  of  exercising  the 
power,  admitted  its  existence,  and  in  that  contest  I  voted  in 
the  State  of  Virginia,  and  supported  Judge  White  for  the  Pres 
idency,  and  cast  my  vote  for  him,  and  not  for  General  Harrison.7 

"Mr.  Davis.  ' Mr.  Speaker,  may  I — ' 

"  The  Speaker.  '  Will  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  give  way 
for  explanation.?' 

"  Mr.  Davis.  «  May  I  ask  the  gentleman  whether  he  addressed 
any  Whig  meetings  in  Ohio  T 

"  Mr.  Bayly.  *  During  my  peregrinations  in  Ohio — not  polit 
ical  peregrinations,  for  I  was  attending  to  private  business — it 
happened  that  I  was  called  on  to  make  a  speech  at  Columbus 
on  occasion  of  the  great  Whig  festival  there,  and  with  that  in 
vitation  I  complied.  [Laughter,]  Well,  gentlemen  may  laugh ; 
but  let  me  tell  them  what  was  the  purport  of  my  speech  on  that 
occasion.  Did  I  recommend  or  advocate  any  of  the  Federal 
measures  of  the  gentleman  from  Kentucky  T  No,  sir.  And  I 
never  shall  forget  that  my  denunciations  of  abolitionism,  and 
the  general  tone  and  tenor  of  my  speech  were  considered  so  very 
mal  apropos  by  the  Whig  leaders,  that  they  were  very  glad  to 
get  clear  of  me.  [Renewed  laughter.]  And,  sir,  although  I 
had  some  little  reputation  then  as  a  public  speaker,  yet,  after 
the  specimen  of  my  oratory  which  I  gave  them  on  that  occasion, 
and  notwithstanding  they  were  hard  run  for  speakers,  I  can  as 
sure  you  that  they  did  not  afterward  honor  me  with  any  invi 
tations  to  address  Whig  meetings.  [Laughter.]  And  let  mo 
add  here,  that,  for  the  activity  with  which  I  opposed  the  elec 
tion  of  General  Harrison,  I  was  visited  with  a  bitterness  of  de 
nunciation  perhaps  rarely  heaped  on  any  other  man.  I  was 
then,  as  now,  in  the  Accomac  District,  and  it  was  then  the 
boasted  banner  district  of  the  Union.  It  was  precisely  at  that 
dark  hour  that,  in  the  district,  I  was  most  active  in  maintaining 
the  great  state  rights  and  Democratic  principles  to  which  I 
have  ever  been,  and  trust  I  ever  shall  be,  devotedly  attached. 
Of  the  part  taken  by  me  in  the  last  contest,  it  is  not  for  me  to 


THOMAS   HENRY  BAYLY.  501 

speak.  It  is  enough  to  say,  1  never  gave  a  Federal  vote ;  I 
never  maintained  a  Federal  principle.  I  have  never  failed,  to 
the  utmost  of  my  ability,  tb  maintain  the  principles  which  dis 
tinguish  the  democracy  of  Virginia.' " 

Mr.  Bayly  opposed  the  interference  of  Congress  with  the  sub 
ject  of  the  naturalization  laws,  when  it  was  brought  up  on 
certain  resolutions  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Massachusetts, 
asking  for  such  amendments  as  would  protect  the  ballot-box 
from  fraud.  This,  he  thought,  was  equivalent  to  asking  Con 
gress  to  interfere  with  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  States. 
He  insisted  that  the  subject  was  one  over  which  the  general 
government  possessed  no  jurisdiction ;  that  the  States  might 
admit  to  the  exercise  of  that  right  whom  they  pleased ;  and 
that  there  was  no  power  in  the  general  government  to  control 
them;  and  he  considered  that  to  ask  Congress  to  interfere 
with  this  right  was  a  bold  attempt  to  usurp  the  acknowledged 
right  of  the  States. 

The  earnestness  with  which  he  advocated  the  annexation  of 
Texas — as  well  in  respect  to  the  act  itself  as  to  the  mode  of  its 
accomplishment  by  joint  resolution — is  generally  known.  And 
we  thus  come,  by  an  easy  transition,  to  his  vote  on  the  Mexi 
can  War  Bill.  We  find  his  name  recorded  in  its  favor ;  but 
we  see  by  the  record  that,  before  the  vote  was  taken,  he  asked 
leave  to  be  excused  from  voting ;  and,  under  a  rule  then,  but 
not  now  existing,  assigned  his  reasons  for  the  request.  He 
said: 

"  I  can  not  vote  in  silence  without  placing  myself  in  a  false 
position.  I  consider  this  bill  virtually  a  declaration  of  war, 
made  without  executive  recommendation — for  I  do  not  under 
stand  the  message,  from  hearing  it  read,  as  recommending  a 
declaration  of  war — and  made,  too,  when  we  do  not  know  that 
the  invasion  of  our  territory  and  the  aggressive  acts  are  sanc 
tioned  by  the  Mexican  government.  They  may  yet  be  disa 
vowed,  and  reparation  made.  I  am  unwilling,  therefore,  at 
this  time,  and  under  the  circumstances,  to  vote  for  a  declara 
tion  of  war.  I  do  not  think  such  a  declaration  necessary  to 
meet  the  emergency.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am  anxious  to  vote 
such  supplies  of  men  and  money  as  will  afford  succor  to  our 
army,  and  repel  the  invasion.  I  must,  as  I  am  now  situated, 
decline  to  do  this,  or  vote  for  the  bill  before  the  House.  I  shall 


502  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

vote  for  the  bill,  if  not  excused,  as  I  can  never  withhold  sup 
plies  under  the  circumstances,  as  the  greater  evil."  He  then 
withdrew  his  motion  to  be  excused,  and  voted  as  we  have 
stated. 

He  has  opposed  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  which  he  regarded  as 
usurping  powers  not  conferred  by  the  Constitution  on  Con 
gress.  And,  in  respect  to  the  ordinance  of  1787,  wherein  that 
proviso  has  its  original  existence,  he  holds  this  language : 

"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  that  ordinance  originated  in 
a  palpable  usurpation  of  power  by  the  Congress  of  1787.  The 
Articles!  of  Confederation  conferred  upon  Congress  no  such  pow 
er  ;  indeed,  they  conferred  scarcely  any  legislative  powers  what 
ever.  The  powers  conferred  were  mainly  executive,  and  relat 
ed  to  our  foreign  relations.  The  Congress,  under  the  Confed 
eration,  was  rather  a  many-headed  executive  than  a  legislative 
body.  The  Congress  itself  seemed  to  concede,  at  one  time,  that 
they  could  not  adopt  the  ordinance  as  a  legislative  act ;  and 
here  they  attempted  to  give  it  validity  under  the  guise  of  *  com 
pact.'  But,  admit  it  to  be  such,  and  you  do  not  avoid  the  diffi 
culty,  but  rather  increase  it ;  for  the  ordinance  was  adopted  by 
a  bare  majority,  and  did  not  receive  the  vote  of  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  states  to  give  it  validity  as  a  compact ;  and,  at  one  time, 
this  was  the  view  of  the  Congress  itself.  In  April,  1784,  the  or 
dinance  was  first  proposed ;  and  it  had  seven  states  in  its  favor, 
three  against,  and  one  (North  Carolina)  divided.  Yet  it  was 
decided  to  be  rejected ;  thus  showing  that  the  Congress  thought 
the  affirmative  vote  of  nine  states,  the  number  the  Articles  of 
Confederation  required  to  adopt  treaties,  was  necessary  to  its 
adoption.  But  the  Congress,  finding  that  the  vote  of  nine 
states  could  not  be  had  for  it,  and  notwithstanding  their  decis 
ion  in  1784,  that  a  smaller  number  would  not  be  sufficient,  in 
1787  they  declared  it  adopted  by  a  bare  majority.  But  some 
thing  more  was  necessary  to  give  it  validity  as  a  compact, 
which  is  wanting  in  this  case.  To  create  a  compact,  there 
must  be  parties  able  and  willing  to  contract,  and  who,  in  fact, 
do  contract.  Now  who,  in  this  case,  were  the  parties  ?  The 
ordinance  declares  the  parties  to  be  '  the  original  states,  and  the 
people  and  states  in  the  said  territory.'  Now,  sir,  I  choose,  on 
this  point,  to  rest  upon  the  fact  rather  than  the  law.  Which 
of  the  original  states  ever  assented  to  this  compact  ?  Not  one. 


THOMAS   HENRY   BAYLY.  503 

It  is  true  Virginia  was  asked  to  consent  to  a  change  which  was 
proposed  in  the  boundary  of  the  states  whfch  it  was  designed 
to  create  in  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  and  the  num 
ber  of  them,  from  the  number  and  boundaries  specified  in  her 
deed  of  cession.  To  this  Virginia  assented  ;  but  she  was  not 
asked  to  assent,  and  she  did  not  assent,  to  any  other  point  of 
the  ordinance.  There  is  no  pretense  that  any  other  state  act 
ed  in  the  matter  at  all.  Will  it  be  said  that  they  assented 
through  their  delegates  in  Congress  ?  They  had  no  commis 
sion  to  give  any  such  assent.  Besides,  '  the  people  and  states 
in  said  territory,'  the  other  parties,  were  not  represented  in 
Congress,  and  they  never  were,  in  any  form,  consulted. 

"  If  this  ordinance  is  to  be  considered  a  legislative  act,  it 
was  always  null  and  void,  because  the  Congress  of  1787  had 
no  authority  to  pass  it  as  such,  as  the  Congress  of  1784  decid 
ed.  But  if  it  is  to  be  considered  a  compact,  then  it  is  equally 
void,  as  it  was  not  adopted  by  the  requisite  vote,  and,  above 
all,  as  the  pretended  parties  to  it  were  not  consulted.  Well, 
then,  might  Mr.  Madison  speak  of  it  as  an  act  '  done  without 
the  least  color  of  constitutional  authority.'  In  the  thirty-eighth 
number  of  the  Federalist,  Mr.  Madison  says,  '  Congress  has  as 
sumed  the  administration  of  this  stock'  [referring  to  the  pub 
lic  lands].  l  They  have  begun  to  render  it  productive.  Con 
gress  has  undertaken  to  do  more  :  they  have  proceeded  to  form 
new  states ;  to  erect  temporary  governments ;  to  appoint  offi 
cers  for  them,  and  to  prescribe  the  conditions  on  which  the 
states  shall  be  admitted  into  the  Confederacy.  And  all  this 
has  been  done,  and  done  without  the  least  color  of  constitu 
tional  authority?  And,  in  truth,  the  sixth  article  of  the  ordi 
nance,  the  one  relating  to  slavery,  was  always  treated  as  a- 
nullity  in  the  territory  itself.  At  the  time  of  the  cession  of 
the  territory,  it  was  uninhabited,  except  by  a  few  French  and 
Canadian  settlers,  who  held  slaves  ;  and  they  continued  to- 
hold  them,  notwithstanding  the  ordinance,  and  the  issue  of 
many  of  them  are  held  as  slaves  to  this  day. 

"  I  think  it  sufficiently  clear  that  the  sixth  article  of  the 
ordinance  of  1787  never  had  any  validity.  But  of  all  the  ab 
surd  ideas  I  have  ever  heard  in  this  hall,  the  idea  that  the  or 
dinance  is  forever  beyond  the  reach  of  the  people  of  the  present 
States,  and,  in  its  own  language,  is  to  '  forever  remain  unalter- 


504  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

able,'  is,  beyond  question,  the  most  absurd.  The  gentleman 
from  Indiana  [Mr.  Petti,t]  says  it  is  unalterable,  because  it  is  a 
compact.  Have  I  not  shown  that  it  never  had  validity  as  such  ? 
Besides,  suppose  it  was  otherwise,  who  ever  had  authority  to 
bind  men  and  their  descendants  through  all  time  as  to  the  form 
of  government  and  the  institutions  under  which  they  should 
live  ?  All  governments  are  compacts  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
word  compact  is  used  here ;  yet  will  any  one  say,  in  this  coun 
try,  that  the  people  can  be  restrained  in  their  right  to  alter  and 
reform  their  governments  and  laws  whenever,  in  their  opinion, 
it  will  be  promotive  of  their  prosperity  and  happiness  ?  If  this 
idea  that  this  ordinance  is  forever  unalterable  be  correct,  then 
the  states  in  the  Northwest  are  not  completely  sovereign,  and 
they  do  not  stand  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original  states ; 
and  the  condition  of  the  Virginia  deed  of  cession,  that  they 
should  be  admitted  into  the  Union,  <  having  the  same  rights  of 
sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence'  as  other  states,  has 
been  violated.  "Will  the  Northwestern  states  admit  that  such 
is  their  condition  of  inferiority  ?" 

He  also  contends  that  the  proposition  to  exclude  slavery  from 
all  territory  hereafter  to  be  acquired,  without  any  reference  to 
its  geographical  position,  evinces  bad  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
non-slaveholding  states ;  that  it  is  not  only  a  palpable  violation 
of  the  Constitution,  but  also  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  He 
admits  that  that  compromise  does  not,  in  terms,  extend  to  ter 
ritory  hereafter  to  be  acquired ;  but  he  argues  that  if  the  com 
promise  was  fair  and  equal  so  far  as  concerned  territory  in  our 
possession  at  the  time  of  its  enactment,  it  would  not  be  less  so 
in  respect  to  territory  subsequently  acquired.  The  argument, 
he  thinks,  gains  additional  weight  from  the  circumstance  which 
he  forcibly  presented  to  the  consideration  of  the  House,  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  was  forced  upon  the  South  by  the  North ; 
that  it  was  the  proposition  of  the  North  itself,  carried  by  North 
ern  votes  against  Southern  votes  and  Southern  protests.  He 
then  says : 

"  In  the  case  -of  Texas,  the  Missouri  Compromise  line  was 
recognized  as  extending  to  territory  to  which  it  did  not  in  terms 
apply.  But  gentlemen  say  the  South  voted  against  applying 
it  to  Texas.  It  is  true  we  did,  because,  for  the  reasons  I  have 
given,  we  did  not  think  Congress  had  the  power  to  do  it.  But 


THOMAS   HENRY   BAYLY.  505 

it  was  proposed  by  a  gentleman  from  a  non-slaveholding  state, 
and  it  was  carried  by  the  representatives  of  the  non-slavehold 
ing  states.  We  could  not  Vote  for  it,  but  we  acquiesced.  Not 
withstanding  all  this,  in  .less  than  two  years,  gentlemen  who 
voted  to  extend  the  Missouri  Compromise  to  Texas  come  for 
ward  and  insist  that  that  compromise  has  no  application  to 
territory  which  we  did  not  possess  at  the  time  of  its  adoption. 
They  are  estopped  by  their  own  votes  from  taking  this  ground." 
And  he  thus  expresses  himself  as  to  the  object  of  the  parties 
engaged  in  the  Wilmot  Proviso  movement : 

"  There  are  three  classes  of  persons  concerned  in  it : 
"  First.  The  mere  politician,  who  is  actuated  by  the  hope 
that,  by  pandering  to  the  prejudices  of  a  portion  of  the  people 
of  the  non-slaveholding  states,  he  can  reap  an  immediate  party 
advantage. 

"  Second.  Those  who  look  a  little  further  ahead,  and  seek  to 
retard,  if  they  can  not  prevent,  the  admission  of  new  slave  states, 
and  to  stimulate  the  formation  of  new  non-slaveholding  states, 
with  the  view  of  throwing  the  control  of  the  government  entire 
ly  into  their  hands. 

"  Third.  The  abolition  fanatic. 

"  The  first  of  these  have  seen  the  power  which  the  Abolition 
ists  wield  in  the  elections,  and  to  conciliate  their  support  for 
mere  party  advantage,  they  are  willing  to  trample  upon  the 
Constitution  and  disturb  our  peace. 

"  The  second  avow  that  their  object  is  political  power.  Their 
calculation  is,  that  if  they  prohibit  slavery  in  all  the  territories, 
the  growth  of  such  as  are  fitted  to  slave  labor  will  be  retarded, 
and  that  all  such  as  are  not  fitted  to  slave  labor  would  be  pro 
portionally  stimulated ;  the  result  of  which  would  be,  non-slave- 
holding  states  would  come  into  the  Union  so  much  faster  than 
slave  states,  that  in  a  short  time  the  government  would  be  in 
the  undisputed  possession  of  the  non-slaveholding  states.  The 
gentleman  from  New  York  (Mr.  Rathbun)  had  the  candor  to 
declare  that  sympathy  for  the  negro  had  nothing  to  do  with  his 
conduct,  and  that  if  we  would  consent  so  to  amend  the  Consti 
tution  as  to  abolish  slave  representation,  he  would  not  care  how 
many  slave  territories  we  might  erect,  or  how  much  slavery 
was  extended.  His  object  was,  as  he  avowed,  to  throw  the  power 
of  the  government  into  the  hands  of  the  non-slaveholding  states. 


506  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

And  why  did  he  desire  to  do  this  ?  Because  he  thought  it  would 
be  in  hands  that  would  guide  our  destiny  more  successfully? 
Oh  no !  But  that  the  North  might  dispense  and  enjoy  the  of 
fices  and  the  patronage  of  the  government ! 

"  The  third  class  is  the  abolition  fanatics,  who  are  bent  upon 
the  abolition  of  slavery  at  every  hazard,  and  by  any  means,  even 
by  deluging  the  South  with  blood.  But,  as  these  people  deny 
the  right  of  Congress  to  emancipate  the  slaves  in  the  States,  it 
may  be  asked,  What  have  they  to  gain  by  the  agitation  of  this 
subject  of  slavery  here  ?  Their  own  report  answers  this  ques 
tion.  I  quote  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York  Abo 
lition  Society  for  1838.  Similar  sentiments  pervade  all  their 
publications.  The  report  goes  on  to  argue,  that  the  value  of 
the  slave  to  his  master  is  the  great  obstacle  to  abolition.  De 
stroy  their  value,  they  say,  and  you  dispose  the  South  to  abo 
lition.  They  propose  many  modes  of  diminishing  the  value  of 
slaves ;  but  I  dismiss  minor  points,  and  come  at  once  to  the 
main  one.  The  discussion  of  the  subject  of  abolition  at  the 
North,  and  in  Congress,  they  say,  will  decrease  the  value  of 
slaves  by 

" l  The  interest  which  they  themselves  will  take  in  the  dis 
cussion.  In  spite  of  all  precautions,  the  slaves  will  become  ac 
quainted  with  what  so  deeply  interests  them  ;  and,  so  far  as  they 
do,  self-respect  will  be  regenerated  :  an  excellent  and  profitable 
sentiment  for  a  free  laborer,  but  ruinous  to  the  slave.  It  was 
the  testimony  of  the  planters  of  Jamaica  before  the  British  Par 
liament,  that  their  slaves  became  acquainted  with  all  that  passed 
in  respect  to  them  in  the  mother  country,  and  were  thereby  too 
much  excited  to  fill  the  places  of  slaves  with  slavish  obedience.' 

"  The  knowledge  of  the  slave  that  a  portion  of  the  whites  are 
exerting  themselves  for  his  emancipation,  upon  the  ground  that 
he  is  illegally  held  in  bondage;  will  make  him,  they  say,  impa 
tient  in  his  servitude.  It  will  make  him  sullen  and  moody  ;  it 
will  incite  him  to  indulge  dreams  of  freedom  in  another  land 
which  he  can  never  enjoy  in  his  own.  He  will  be  reduced  to  a 
condition  in  which  his  master  can  not  rely  upon  his  labor.  He 
will  be  disposed  to  run  away,  and  at  a  time  when  his  services 
can  be  least  spared.  The  master  will  be  subjected  to  constant 
and  heavy  expense  to  recapture  him.  He  will  thus  become  to 
his  owner  a  source  of  vexation  rather  than  comfort,  of  trouble 


THOMAS   HENRY   BAYLY.  507 

and  expense  rather  than  profit.  To  establish  these  facts,  there 
is  copied  in  the  report  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  a 
man  at  the  South,  to  whose  sister  a  gentleman  of  New  York 
had  sent  two  abolition  pamphlets : 

"  ( Do  you  remember  the  two  books  you  sent  out  to  my  sis 
ter  by  me  ?  My  two  black  boys,  William  and  Jim,  who  lived 
better  and  easier  than  I  did,  read  them,  and,  in  consequence,  ran 
off,  and  after  eleven  days'  riding,  and  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
seven  dollars  cost,  I  got  them  ;  and  now  their  place  is  wretched 
by  their  own  conduct,  as  I  sold  them  at  a  loss  of  nine  hundred 
dollars  to  a  trader.' 

"  The  report  then  goes  on  to  urge,  that  to  increase  the  de 
sire  and  disposition  of  the  slave  to  run  away  to  the  greatest 
possible  pitch,  it  is  necessary  that  the  Northern  States  should 
adopt  such  a  course  of  policy  as  to  render  his  recapture  impos 
sible  after  he  has  escaped  there.  The  effect  which  such  a  course 
of  policy  would  produce,  in  decreasing  the  value  of  slaves,  is 
then  minutely  exemplified.  The  report  then  urges  upon  the 
Northern  States  to  pass  laws,  providing  such  a  mode  of  trial  in 
the  case  of  fugitives  from  labor  as  will  enable  them  to  raise  the 
question  of  the  legality  of  the  bondage  in  which  they  are  held. 

"  These  are  the  objects  which  the  Abolitionists  have  in  view 
in  their  ordinary  movements  here ;  but  this  proviso  is  advocat 
ed  by  them  in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  able  to  form  a  cordon 
of  free  states  entirely  around  us,  in  which,  in  the  language  of 
the  gentleman  from  Ohio  (Mr.  Delano),  the  fires  of  liberty  are 
to  be  lit  up,  and,  by  them,  the  South  consumed. 

"  These  are  the  objects  of  the  prime  movers  in  this  matter ; 
and  now  I  put  it  to  the  country,  are  they  proper — are  they  hu 
mane — are  they  philanthropic — are  they  patriotic  ?" 

And  he  thus  concludes  : 

"  Mr.  Jefferson  was  right  when  he  said  that  the  fell  spirit  of 
abolitionism  had  only  been  hushed  for  a  moment,  and  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  was  '  a  reprieve'  and  i  not  a  final  sen 
tence.'  No,  sir ;  from  that  day  to  this  its  progress  has  been 
rapid.  The  concessions  which  the  South  then  made  have  but 
invited  new  aggressions.  The  demands  of  the  Abolitionists 
have  constantly  been  more  and  more  exacting,  until  now  they 
insist  upon  an  unconditional  surrender  of  all  our  rights ;  and 
.this  is  done  in  a  tone  as  offensive  as  the  demand  is  unjust. 


508  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"  As  a  faithful  sentinel  on  the  watch-tower,  I  warn  my  coun 
trymen  of  the  danger  which  is  so  rapidly  approaching.  I  warn 
them  to  suspect — more  than  suspect — that  man  who  would 
try  to  lull  them  into  a  false  security.  I  see  the  danger  in  all 
its  hideousness,  and  I  will  not  betray  a  confiding  constituency 
by  crying  out  '  all  is  well,'  when  I  know  all  is  not  well.  Sir, 
the  boldness  and  the  strength  of  the  Abolitionists  have  increas 
ed  with  wonderful  rapidity ;  and  I  am  amazed  to  see  how  quiet 
Southern  men  are.  I  have  had  to  school  myself  for  this  dis 
cussion.  For  more  than  ten  years  I  have  had  my  eye  upon  this 
monster.  I  have  marked  his  movements  well.  I  have  seen 
the  insidious  character  of  them.  I  have  tried  to  hold  them  up 
to  my  state  in  all  their  atrocity.  But  I  grieve  to  say  they 
have  not  awakened  the  spirit  which  they  should.  The  increase 
of  the  strength  of  the  Abolitionists  has  been  so  gradual  that  the 
country  has  not  been  sufficiently  alive  to  it.  I  will  not  detain 
the  committee  with  any  long  details  on  this  point.  I  beg  such 
of  my  constituents  as  have  it,  to  read  the  speech  I  made  in  the 
Legislature  of  Virginia  in  1841,  on  the  New  York  Inspection 
Law,  and  see  how  my  predictions  have  been  fulfilled.  I  can 
not,  however,  forbear  to  remind  the  committee  of  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  votes  at  each  successive  session  of  Congress 
against  the  rule  providing  for  laying  abolition  petitions  on  the 
table  have  increased.  The  vote  against  the  Pinckney  resolu 
tions,  in  1836,  ranged  from  forty  to  forty-five ;  against  Pat- 
ton's,  at  the  succeeding  Congress,  it  was  sixty ;  against  John 
son's,  in  1840,  it  was  seventy ;  at  the  last  Congress  the  vote 
was  near  a  tie ;  at  this,  the  rule  was  repealed  by  an  over 
whelming  majority.  We  were  told  that  the  twenty-first  rule 
created  all  the  abolition  excitement ;  and  that,  if  it  was  repeal 
ed,  there  would  be  an  end  of  it.  I  knew  and  predicted  it  would 
be  otherwise.  I  predicted  that,  as  soon  as  that  pretext  for  agi 
tation  was  removed,  they  would  find  some  other  ;  and  stronger 
proof  of  their  determination  to  keep  up  this  war  upon  us  could 
not  be  produced  than  the  offering  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso.  Here 
is  an  uncalled-for  attempt  to  legislate  for  a  country  which  is 
not,  and  never  may  be  ours,  and  in  reference  to  which  we 
would  have  no  right  to  legislate  if  it  was.  Why  is  this? 
Does  not  every  one  know  that  it  is  done  for  the  purpose  of  ab 
olition  excitement? 


THOMAS   HENRY  BAYLY.  509 

"  I  warn  Southern  men  that  we  have  arrived  at  a  point  at 
which  we  must  take  a  firm  stand,  if  we  ever  mean  to  do  it. 
We  have  arrived  at  a  point  when  further  concessions  to  the  Ab 
olitionists  would  be  alike  dishonorable  and  fatal.  I  repeat,  if  we 
ever  mean,  to  act  with  firmness,  let  us  do  it  now." 

Mr.  Bayly  was  married  in  May,  1837,  to  Evelyn,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Judge  May,  of  Petersburg,  Virginia,  and  has  one 
daughter  living. 

He  is  among  the  ablest  advocates  of  Democratic  principles 
in  the  House  of  Representatives.  As  a  debater  he  holds  de 
servedly  a  high  rank.  The  characteristics  of  his  mind  seem 
to  be  strength,  clearness,  and  sound  logical  power,  sustained 
by  the  aids  of  a  good  classical  education.  He  has  the  ardor 
which  gives  him  efficiency  in  speaking,  and  possesses  much  of 
the  tact  of  a  tried  parliamentary  debater.  To  these  advan 
tages  he  unites  a  fine  voice,  audible  under  all  circumstances. 
We  heard  a  highly  intelligent  gentleman,  who  had  been  a  lis 
tener  to  his  recent  speech  touching  the  power  of  Congress  to 
legislate  for  the  Territories,  say  that  he  had  put  the  Wilmot 
Proviso  Question  in  a  better  position  for  the  South  than  it  had 
ever  been  stated  before  in  either  branch  of  Congress. 

Occasionally,  in  the  heat  of  debate,  a  little  severity  of  tone  or 
suddenness  of  manner  is  perceptible,  of  which,  we  think,  he  is 
not  conscious,  and  which  has  appeared  to  us  to  constitute  the 
only  obstacle  in  the  way  of  that  general  popularity  in  public 
life  which  his  excellent  personal  qualities  have  secured  to  him 
in  the  private  and  social  circle. 


- 


M'CLERNAND,   JOHN  ALEXANDER. 

JL  HE  father  of  this  gentleman,  John  M'Clernand,  was  a  na 
tive  of  Antrim,  Ireland.  He  was  educated  in  the  University 
of  Dublin,  and  was  designed  by  his  father,  Alexander  M'Cler- 
nand,  for  the  clergy.  After  graduating  at  the  Dublin  Univers 
ity,  he  determined  to  study  the  medical  profession,  and  accord 
ingly  went  to  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  where  he  graduated  with 
the  honors  of  that  celebrated  university.  In  1801,  Doctor 
M'Clernand,  with  many  other  Irish  patriots,  became  involved  in 
the  civil  disturbances  of  that  period,  and,  preferring  liberty  in  a 
distant  land  to  tyranny  in  his  native  country,  he  sought  a  ref 
uge  in  America,  and  landed  at  Philadelphia.  At  an  early  pe 
riod  he  removed  to  Kentucky,  and  settled  near  Hardinsburg,  in 
Breckenridge  county.  Here  he  married  Fatima  Seaton,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Cummins.  She  was  the  widow  of  Richard 
A.  Seaton,  and  was  born  in  Prince  William  county,  Virginia. 
Her  father  left  that  state  among  the  early  settlers  of  Kentucky, 
and  taught  one  of  the  first  schools  ever  opened  in  the  city  of 
Louisville.  She  lived  until  her  son  arrived  at  the  age  of  man 
hood,  when,  in  1834,  she  was  gathered  to  a  Christian's  grave. 
John  A.  M'Clernand,  the  only  living  child  of  John  and  Fati- 
rna  M'Clernand,  was  born  in  Breckenridge  county,  Kentucky, 
on  the  30th  of  May,  1812.  In  1813  the  family  removed  to 
Shawneetown,  Illinois,  then  a  new  town  in  a  new  country.  In 
1816  Doctor  M'Clernand  died,  his  son  being  then  only  four 
years  of  age.  The  following  letter  to  Mr.  M'Clernand,  from  a 
distant  branch  of  the  family,  contains  some  further  details  of 
its  origin : 

"  You  request  me  to  inform  you,  as  far  as  practicable,  of  our 

family  genealogy,  and,  as  many  of  the  family  records  are  in  my 

hands  at  my  residence  in  Tampico,  I  can  do  so  with  accuracy. 

The  family  can  be  traced  back  to  the  reign  of  Malcolm  the 

510 


JOHN    ALEXANDER    M;CLERNAND.  511 

First  of  Scotland,  and  was  then  one  of  the  stoutest  clans ;  and 
the  leader,  for  his  daring  deeds,  obtained  the  name  of  Mac  of 
the  Clearlands,  having  cut  his  way  through  some  of  the  most 
formidable  of  the  border  chiefs,  and,  after  the  victory,  received 
the  crest  of  the  hand  and  dagger  and  a  bird  in  flight,  signify 
ing  promptitude  of  action.  This  was  the  highest  honor  that 
could  be  conferred  at  that  period  of  history,  then  under  the 
Thanes  of  Scotland.  Their  motto  was,  <  Faithful  and  steady.' 
After  the  lapse  of  years,  and  enjoying  their  titles,  some  of  the  de 
scendants  emigrated  to  the  north  of  Ireland,  the  province  of  Ul 
ster,  county  of  Antrim,  and  Londonderry,  and  held  landed  pos 
sessions  to  a  considerable  extent ;  but,  fonder  of  war  and  adven 
ture  than  a  rural  life — not  blessed  with  the  virtue  of  frugality 
— and  disliking  the  forms  of  the  British  government,  most  of 
them  bade  adieu  to  the  land  of  the,ir  nativity,  and,  as  most  ar 
dent  spirits  do,  sought  adventure  in  foreign  lands;  the  name 
having  been  abridged  in  the  latter  days  to  M 'demand,  and  in 
the  Highland  Gaelic  to  M'Carnon,  but  all  implying  the  same 
meaning  or  derivation." 

John  A.  M'Clernand  was  brought  up  at  Shawneetown.  His 
education  was  acquired  in  the  village  schools,  where  he  was 
kept  by  his  mother  as  often  as  a  teacher  could  be  procured.  In 
the  then  condition  of  the  country,  colleges  and  academies  of 
learning  were  unknown.  When  not  at  school  he  worked  on  a 
farm,  or  in  other  ways,  sometimes  in  hauling  with  a  team. 
The  teacher  to  whom  he  was  most  indebted  for  his  acquisi 
tions  of  knowledge  was  the  late  William  Jefferson  Gate  wood, 
senator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Illinois. 

In  1829  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Hen 
ry  Eddy.  This  step  was  approved  by  his  friends.  He  holds 
himself  especially  indebted  to  a  revered  friend,  Judge  Jepthah 
Hardin,  for  inducing  him  to  enter  immediately  upon  this  pur 
suit.  This  gentleman  says  that  he  once  came  accidentally 
upon  Mr.  M'Clernand  when  he  was  splitting  rails,  and  encour 
aged  him  to  enter  as  a  student  of  the  profession.  The  latter 
informed  the  judge  that  he  had  already  resolved  to  do  so,  and 
he  was  induced  to  apply  to  Mr.  Eddy  as  a  student,  proposing 
to  place  himself  immediately  under  his  instructions.  The  prop 
osition  was  accepted,  and  that  gentleman  not  only  took  the 
young  student  into  his  library,  but  encouraged  him  by  every 


512  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

kindness  to  accomplish  his  purpose.  He  remained  with  Mr. 
Eddy  four  years,  and  in  1832  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

In  1832,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years,  Mr.  M'Clernand  volun 
teered  in  what  is  known  as  the  Black  Hawk  War,  against  the 
Sac  and  Fox  Indians.  He  served  in  the  ranks  as  a  private 
until  the  war  was  closed  by  the  battle  of  Bad  Axe,  so  called. 
During  the  campaign,  General  Posey  selected  him  to  bear  a 
hazardous  express  for  nearly  one  hundred  miles  through  a  wild 
country  infested  by  hostile  Indians,  a  service  which  he  gallant 
ly  performed. 

Ill  health  rendered  it  necessary,  after  his  return  from  the 
war,  that  he  should  defer  professional  practice  until  he  should 
be  restored  by  more  active  life.  Accordingly,  for  two  years, 
during  1833-4,  he  traded  upon  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers. 
The  pecuniary  means  thus  acquired  better  enabled  him  to  en 
gage  in  his  profession. 

In  1835  he  established  the  first  Democratic  press  that  ever 
existed  in  Shawneetown.  The  paper  published,  of  which  he 
was  the  editor,  was  called  the  "  Democrat."  In  the  same  year 
he  opened  an  office  in  Shawneetown,  and  commenced  the  prac 
tice  of  law  in  the  several  courts  of  the  judicial  circuit.  He 
continued  to  practice  his  profession  with  success  until  his  elec 
tion  to  Congress  in  1843.  In  the  mean  time,  he  formed  a  part 
nership  with  Albert  G.  Caldwell,  a  gentleman  who  had  finished 
nis  studies  in  Mr.  M'Clernand's  office. 

His  political  principles  are  inflexibly  those  of  a  Democrat. 
"Born  one  of  the  people,"  he  says,  "he  continues  one  of  the 
people."  The  late  General  Ewing,  formerly  senator  in  Con 
gress  from  Illinois,  when  referring  to  him  upon  an  exciting  po 
litical  question,  said,  "  M'Clernand  we  can  count  upon ;  he  is 
always  for  the  democracy  and  his  friends." 

In  1836  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature  from  the 
county  of  Gallatin.  He  was  then  twenty-four  years  of  age. 
Politics  ran  high.  General  Jackson's  administration  was  vio 
lently  opposed.  The  .Whigs  expected  to  overthrow  it,  and, 
with  it,  the  ascendency  of  the  Democratic  party.  In  this 
crisis,  Governor  Duncan,  who  had  been  repeatedly  elected  to 
Congress  as  a  Democrat  and  political  friend  of  General  Jack 
son,  made  a  violent  attack  upon  him,  in  his  message  to  the 
Legislature  of  1836.  He  denounced  him  for  the  abuse  of  ex- 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  M'CLERNAND.     513 

ecutive  patronage ;  for  wasteful  and  increased  expenditufes ; 
for  vetoing  the  bill  to  recharter  the  United  States  Bank ;  for 
the  removal  of  the  deposites,  and  for  other  alleged  delinquen 
cies.  The  friends  of  the  governor,  at  home  and  abroad,  pre 
dicted  that  he  would  be  able  to  revolutionize  the  politics  of  the 
state.  The  contest  became  fierce,  and  the  excitement  intense. 

In  this  state  of  things,  a  legislative  committee  was  raised  to 
investigate  the  charges  preferred  by  the  governor  against  the 
President.  Mr.  M'Clernand,  in  behalf  of  the  committee,  pre 
pared  and  presented  a  report,  which  thoroughly  discussed  all 
the  mooted  political  topics  of  the  day,  and  defended  and  vindi 
cated  the  administration  of  the  President.  It  is  known  that 
the  state  was  finally  saved  to  the  Democratic  party. 

During  the  same  session  of  1836—7,  a  system  of  internal 
improvements  was  adopted.  Mr.  M'Clernand  had  been  elect 
ed,  and,  after  his  election,  had  been  formally  instructed  by  his 
constituents  to  support  such  a  system.  No  alternative,  there 
fore,  was  allowed  him  but  to  violate  instructions,  or  vote  for 
the  system  if  he  retained  his  seat.  Accordingly,  he  voted  for 
the  system,  and  advocated,  in  a  speech,  the  general  policy  of 
public  improvements  by  the  States.  He  has  subsequently  stat 
ed,  in  the  councils  of  the  state,  that  he  regretted  the  necessity 
for  the  part  he  took  upon  this  question  more  than  any  thing 
which  has  occurred  in  connection  with  his  political  career.  Re 
ferring  to  this  subject  at  a  subsequent  period,  he  thus  expresses 
himself : 

"  If  we  look  to  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  we  shall  find 
a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  matter.  Rail-roads  and  canals 
were  the  mania  of  the  time.  Banks  had  multiplied ;  paper 
money  had  become  never  so  plenty ;  speculation  had  inflamed 
the  public  mind,  and  become  rife  throughout  Europe  and  Amer 
ica.  Causes  of  imperious  and  world- wide  operation  were  driv 
ing  nations  and  individuals,  heedless  and  infatuated,  upon  the 
treacherous  rocks  of  speculation.  The  extravagance  commit 
ted  by  Illinois,  was  committed,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  by  al 
most  every  state  in  the  Union,  and  by  thousands  of  individuals. 
Her  failure,  therefore,  was  not  an  exception,  but  a  misfortune 
in  which  individuals  and  nations  equally  shared.  The  convul 
sion  and  the  calamity  were  general ;  their  causes  originated  in 
the  great  and  mysterious  law  which  appoints  to  human  affairs 

VOL.  L— K  K 


514  HISTORY  OF    CONGRESS. 

the  periodical  fluctuations  which  are  typified  in  the  diurnal 
fluctuations  of  the  sea." 

During  the  same  session  of  1836-7,  a  controversy  arose  re 
specting  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal,  which  had  wellnigh 
defeated  that  great  and  popular  work,  and  to  the  character  of 
which  we  have  elsewhere  referred.  Mr.  M'Ciernand  was  an 
efficient  and  bold  advocate  of  what  is  known  as  the  "  deep-cut 
plan,"  which,  with  some  amendments,  was  finally  adopted. 
After  the  controversy  had  been  adjusted,  the  offices  of  commis 
sioner  and  treasurer  of  the  canal  were  tendered  to  him,  and  he 
was  elected  unanimously,  we  believe,  by  the  Legislature. 

In  1837  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  this  twofold  office. 
In  the  spring  of  1839  the  state  found  herself  without  adequate 
means  to  carry  on  the  work,  and  Mr.  M'Clernand,  deeming  it 
useless  to  continue  his  connection  with  it,  resigned  the  office. 
His  faithful  administration  of  his  responsible  trust  upon  the 
canal  was  responded  to  by  complimentary  resolutions  adopted 
at  public  meetings. 

In  1838,  some  influential  men,  members  of  a  State  Conven 
tion,  urged  "Mr.  M'Clernand  to  accept  the  nomination  for  lieu 
tenant  governor,  but  he  declined  the  offer  on  the  ground,  which 
he  communicated  to  the  Convention,  that  he  was  not  thirty 
years  of  age,  and  was  therefore  ineligible  under  the  Constitu 
tion.  Among  the  resolutions  adopted  by  this  Convention,  we 
see  the  following,  which  had  previously  been  prepared  by  Mr. 
M'Clernand,  and  which  he  regarded  as  breathing  the  true  spirit 
of  democracy : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Democratic  principle  is  founded  on  an 
imperishable  basis  of  truth  and  justice,  and  perpetually  striv 
ing  to  sustain  society  in  the  exercise  of  every  power  which  can 
promote  human  happiness  and  elevate  our  condition ;  that,  in 
stead  of  warring  against  order,  and  encroaching  upon  the  priv 
ileges  of  others,  the  spirit  of  democracy  maintains  an  active 
principle  of  hope  and  virtue. 

"Resolved,  That  we  recognize  no  power  but  that  which 
yields  to  the  restraints  of  duty  and  is  guided  by  mind ;  that 
we  only  seek  to  obtain  influence  by  means  of  free  conviction ; 
that  we  condemn  all  appeals  to  brute  force  and  the  exercise  of 
violence,  and  that  our  only  means  of  persuasion  are  reason  and 
truth. 


JOHN  ALEXANDER   M'CLERNAND.  515 

"  Resolved,  That  our  first  aim  is  to  connect  our  party  with 
the  cause  of  intelligence  and  morality ;  to  seek  the  protection 
of  every  right  consistent  with  the  genius  of  our  institutions  and 
the  spirit  of  the  age.  We  desire  to  extend  moral  culture,  and 
to  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  all  inequalities  in  our  human  con 
dition,  by  embracing  all  improvements  which  can  ameliorate 
our  moral  and  political  state." 

After  the  success  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  gubernato 
rial  election,  Governor  Carlin,  during  the  session  of  the  Legis 
lature  in  1838-9,  nominated  Mr.  M'Clernand  to  the  Senate  for 
confirmation  to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  State,  to  take  the 
place  of  Alexander  P.  Field,  a  Whig.  The  Whigs,  with  the 
aid  of  two  or  three  Democrats,  who  believed  that  the  governor 
had  no  power  to  remove  the  incumbent,  rejected  the  nomina 
tion.  Afterward,  during  the  same  session,  as  we  have  stated, 
Mr.  M'Clernand  was  elected  canal  commissioner  and  treasurer. 
His  rejection  brought  in  question  the  power  of  the  executive  to 
remove  the  secretary.  The  Democrats  insisted  upon  the  ex 
istence  of  such  a  power.  The  Whigs  denied  it,  and,  by  conse 
quence,  as  was  alleged,  affirmed  the  indefeasibility  of  the  ten 
ure  of  the  office.  The  question  became  very  engrossing  and 
exciting.  It  became  a  question  of  "  life  offices"  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  "  defeasibility  of  offices"  on  the  other,  according 
to  the  newspapers  of  the  day.  The  people  in  primary  meet 
ings,  and  the  press,  took  up  the  question.  On  the  adjournment 
of  the  Legislature,  the  governor  reappointed  Mr.  M'Clernand  to 
the  office.  Mr.  Field  refused  to  vacate  it,  or  deliver  over  the 
seal  of  state.  This  added  fuel  to  the  flame,  and  it  was  decided 
to  test  the  question  by  judicial  decision.  A  quo  warranto  was 
sued  out  against  Mr.  Field,  to  which  he  answered,  denying  the 
power  of  the  governor  to  remove  him.  Judge  Breese,  before 
whom  the  court  was  held,  delivered  an  elaborate  opinion  in  fa 
vor  of  the  power  of  the  governor  to  remove  the  secretary,  and 
against  any  doctrine  favoring  the  indefeasibility  of  office.  Mr. 
Field  took  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  who  reversed  the 
decision  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  confirmed  him  in  the  office. 

The  principle  involved  continued  to  agitate  the  public  mind. 
The  governor  nominated  one  or  two  other  individuals  to  the  of 
fice,  who  were  in  turn  rejected  on  the  same  ground.  He,  how 
ever,  persevered  in  the  assertion  of  his  right  to  appoint  his  own 


516  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

secretary,  until  at  length  he  succeeded  in  procuring  a  majority 
in  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  favorable  to  his  views,  when, 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  he  appointed  a  man 
of  his  own  choice. 

In  1840  Mr.  M'Clernand  was  elected  a  second  time  to  the 
Legislature  from  the  county  of  Gallatin.  A  large  majority  of 
Democrats  were  returned  to  both  branches.  The  most  exciting 
question  of  the  session  was  the  passage  of  the  new  Judiciary 
Bill.  The  Supreme  Court  had  given  great  offense  to  the  peo 
ple  of  the  state,  not  only  on  account  of  its  decision  on  the  quo 
warranto,  but  especially  with  reference  to  the  right  of  aliens  to 
vote  under  the  Constitution  of  the  state.  The  Legislature  went 
to  work  to  reform  the  judiciary,  and  this  was  done.  In  the  de 
bate  upon  the  bill  having  this  last-mentioned  object  in  view, 
Mr.  M'Clernand,  on  the  authority  of  a  highly  respectable  gen 
tleman,  made  a  statement  imputing  improper  conduct  to  the 
Supreme  Court  in  regard  to  a  cause  involving  the  exercise  of 
the  elective  franchise,  to  which  Theophilus  W.  Smith,  one  of 
the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  took  exception.  The  conse 
quence  was  a  challenge  from  Judge  Smith,  which  was  promptly 
accepted  by  Mr.  M'Clernand,  who  immediately  repaired  to  the 
place  of  meeting.  But  the  judge  failed  to  do  so,  and  the  hos 
tile  meeting  never  took  place. 

In  December,  1839,  Mr.  M'Clernand,  Adam  W.  Snyder, 
then  former  representative  in  Congress,  and  afterward  Demo 
cratic  nominee  for  governor,  whose  election  was  only  prevented 
by  his  death,  James  H.  Ralston,  Isaac  P.  Walker,  and  John 
W.  Eldridge,  were  nominated  by  a  State  Convention  for  electors 
to  support  Martin  Van  Buren  and  Richard  M.  Johnson,  Dem 
ocratic  candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President.  The  Whig 
ticket  for  electors,  pledged  to  support  General  Harrison  and 
John  Tyler,  were  Samuel  D.  Marshall,  Edwin  B.  Webb,  Abram 
Lincoln,  now  representative  in  Congress,  Cyrus  Walker,  and 
Buckner  S.  Morris.  The  canvass  was  no  ordinary  one.  It 
was  an  energetic  struggle,  protracted  for  months :  the  stake 
was  a  state  which  might,  as  was  supposed  by  many,  decide  the 
election.  The  result  was  a  majority  of  about  four  thousand 
votes  for  Van  Buren  and  Johnson  in  that  portion  of  the  state, 
the  majority  in  the  whole  state  being  about  nineteen  hun 
dred.  On  a  late  occasion,  Mr.  M'Clernand,  in  a  speech  review- 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  M'CLERNAND.     517 

ing  and  vindicating  his  political  conduct,  thus  refers  to  that 
contest : 

"In  the  same  year,  fellow-citizens,  I  became  a  candidate  for 
elector  for  President  and  Vice-President.  If  ever  there  was  a 
time  that  tried  men's  souls,  that  was  one.  The  chaff  was  win 
nowed  from  the  wheat,  the  dross  was  purged  from  the  pure  gold. 
Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  professing  the  noble  cause  of 
democracy,  went  over  to  the  tents  of  the  enemy,  to  swell  the 
syren  paeans  of  a  chieftain,  or  to  secure  on  the  side  of  numbers 
what  they  could  not  expect  from  the  defeat  of  principles.  Where 
was  I  then  ?  Did  I  not  stand  firm  ?  Was  not  my  voice  heard 
loud  and  distinct,  cheering  on  the  democracy  to  duty  and  to  com 
bat  ?  Did  I  not  fight  the  good  fight,  and  keep  the  faith  to  the 
end  ?  It  is  for  you,  fellow-citizens,  not  me,  to  answer.  Illinois, 
I  am  proud  to  say,  stood  unscathed  and  unshaken  in  that  ter 
rible  conflict.  She  loomed  up,  amid  the  infernal  chaos  that 
rolled  around,  a  sturdy  and  towering  rock,  upon  which  the 
scanty  but  dauntless  legions  of  democracy  have  since  rallied 
for  renewed  and  victorious  contest.  Never,  my  countrymen, 
was  I  prouder  than  when  you  and  others,  inhabiting  the  same 
part  of  the  state  as  myself,  commissioned  me  to  deposit  in  the 
electoral  college  at  Springfield  a  majority  of  four  thousand  votes 
for  Martin  Van  Buren  for  President  and  for  Richard  M.  John 
son  for  Vice-President." 

We  have  stated  that  in  1840  Mr.  M'Clernand  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature  for  the  second  time  from  Gallatin  county, 
being  at  the  same  time  a  candidate  for  elector.  His  position 
as  a  leading  representative  of  the  Democratic  party,  in  the  char 
acter  of  a  nominated  candidate  for  elector,  arrayed  against  his 
election  to  the  Legislature  the  most  active  and  vigilant  opposi 
tion  by  the  Whigs.  He  was  attacked  through  the  press,  by 
anonymous  hand-bills,  and  by  every  mode  of  party  warfare  ;  yet 
he  met  his  opponents  every  where,  and  was  elected  to  the  Leg 
islature  by  a  larger  vote,  we  believe,  than  was  cast  for  him  as 
a  candidate  for  elector  for  President  and  Vice-President. 

In  1842  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  for  the  third  time 
from  the  county  of  Gallatin.  At  this  time,  as  we  have  stated, 
Illinois  was  involved  in  complicated  embarrassments :  for  bank 
stock  subscribed  in  the  banks  of  the  state,  more  than  three 
millions  of  dollars ;  for  internal  improvements,  more  than  ten 


518  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

millions;  besides  other  considerable  items.  The  banks  had 
failed — their  paper  was  depreciated — the  people  were  largely 
indebted  to  them — the  public  works  had  stopped — the  taxes 
were  high,  and  the  hopes  and  energies  of  the  people  wellnigh 
crushed.  Mr.  M'Clernand  attributed  the  misfortunes  under 
which  his  state  was  suffering  to  the  evils  of  the  banking  sys 
tem.  Speaking  of  the  undue  extension  of  that  system  in 
1842-3,  he  said : 

"  The  vessel  of  credit  weighed  anchor,  spread  her  canvas  to' 
the  gale,  and  announced  her  destination  to  be  the  fabled  El  Do 
rado.  For  a  time  she  skimmed  the  waters  as  '  a  thing  of  life ;' 
but  anon  the  storm  came ;  the  waters  were  disturbed,  and  the 
frail  bark  was  dashed  upon  the  rocks,  and  the  multitude  who 
thronged  her  decks  were  cast  upon  the  rough  seas,  to  become 
the  prey  of  the  sharks  that  followed  in  her  wake !  Such  was 
the  experience,  such  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  banking  system. 
During  its  short  career,  individuals,  communities,  and  states 
were  precipitated  into  bankruptcy,  Illinois  among  the  number. 
The  part  she  played  in  the  thickening  drama  was  to  set  on  foot 
a  system  of  improvements  amounting  to  eleven  hundred  miles 
of  railway !  an  enterprise  in  which  all  seemed  to  agree  at  the 
time,  but  which  all  now  agree  to  condemn." 

As  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Finance,  he  brought  for 
ward  a  series  of  measures,  which  had  been  recommended  by 
Governor  Ford,  and  enforced  by  the  then  financial  officer  of  the 
state,  the  gallant  Brigadier-general  Shields :  one,  to  dissolve 
the  connection  between  the  state  and  the  banks,  and  to  ex 
change  the  stock  of  the  state  in  the  banks  for  an  equal  amount 
of  the  liabilities  of  the  state — three  millions  seventy  thousand 
dollars ;  and  another,  to  sell  the  lands  and  other  property  bought 
and  held  by  the  state  in  connection  with  the  projected  improve 
ments.  A  third  measure  was  the  proposition  for  an  arrange 
ment  with  the  holders  of  the  bonds  issued  for  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal,  brought  forward  by  Michael  Ryan,  chairman 
of  the  Canal  Committee,  to  redeem  the  canal  debt  and  secure 
the  completion  of  the  work  by  putting  it  in  the  hands  of  trust 
ees,  subject  to  the  appropriation  of  its  profits  by  the  creditors 
for  the  canal  until  they  should  be  reimbursed. 

Mr.  M'Clernand  supported  all  these  measures  by  his  vote, 
and  was  active  in  securing  their  adoption.  In  another  portion 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  M'CLERNAND.     519 

of  a  speech  already  quoted,  on  the  divorce  of  bank  and  state, 
he  said  : 

"  I  desire  to  see  the  bill  before  the  House  speedily  passed. 
It  will  open  a  new  era  to  Illinois — the  era  of  democracy,  hard 
money,  and  no  banks !  It  will  restore  our  former  habits  of  in 
dustry  and  economy,  and  the  attendant  consequences  of  pros 
perity  and  contentment.  I  desire  that  Illinois  may  claim  to 
be  the  first  state  to  rid  herself  of  all  banks,  that  her  example 
may  be  followed  by  her  sister  states,  not  only  in  this  regard,  but 
also  in  the  total  disuse  of  bank  issues  in  the  collection  and  dis 
bursement  of  the  public  revenues." 

Speaking  of  the  probability  of  the  success  of  the  several 
measures  he  had  brought  forward,  and  calling  upon  the  House 
to  come  to  his  support,  he  said : 

"  This,  sir,  would  be  a  great  consummation ;  one  which 
would  be  worthy  of  the  best  efforts  of  the  patriot  and  states 
man  ;  one  which  would  bring  joy  to  the  hearts,  and  hope  to  the 
firesides  of  an  oppressed  and  impoverished  people.  For  it  I  have 
struggled  through  evil  and  good  report,  with  friends  and  against 
opponents,  in,  and  more  especially  out  of,  this  House,  and  for  it 
will  continue  to  struggle,  whatever  may  be  the  consequences. 
If  I  fail  here,  I  will  appeal  to  Caesar — I  mean  the  people,  who 
are  greater  than  Caesar — whose  judgment  I  know  will  be  in  my 
favor." 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  Mr.  M' demand  to  see  all  these 
measures  adopted. 

In  1843,  while  he  was  still  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  he 
was  elected  a  representative  in  the  twenty-eighth  Congress. 
His  opponent  was  Zadok  Casey,  a  gentleman  well  known  to  us, 
who  had  for  many  previous  years  been  a  representative  in  Con 
gress  from  Illinois.  Mr.  M'Clernand  was  supported  as  the  reg 
ular  Democratic  candidate,  and  was  elected.  The  contest  be 
tween  him  and  his  opponent  was  a  very  active  one  between 
themselves,  and  very  exciting  throughout  the  district. 

Before  taking  his  seat  in  Congress,  he  married  Sarah,  the 
daughter  of  Colonel  Dunlap,  of  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  one  of  the 
most  respectable  and  influential  families  in  the  state. 

As  a  member  of  the  national  House  of  Representatives,  he 
soon  won  the  confidence  of  his  political  friends.  His  first  speech, 
which  was  upon  the  bill  to  remit  the  fine  imposed  upon  Gen- 


520  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

eral  Jackson  by  Judge  Hall,  evinced  the  warm  affection  which 
he  had  cherished  from  his  youth  for  that  illustrious  man.  The 
following  extract  embodies  his  statement  of  the  case : 

"  A  word  or  two,  sir,  with  regard  to  the  particular  offense  alleged  against  Gen 
eral  Jackson,  and  I  have  done.  Not  to  speak  of  the  disparity  which  existed  be 
tween  the  British  and  American  forces,  the  inferiority  of  the  latter  in  point  of 
discipline,  numbers,  and  arms,  and  the  imminent  danger  to  which  the  city  of 
New  Orleans,  and  the  entire  trade  of  the  West,  upon  the  Mississippi  and  through 
the  Gulf,  was  exposed,  General  Jackson  was  threatened  with  internal  enemies — 
ay,  with  treason  in  his  camp.  A  number  of  the  French  population  of  the  coun 
try  had  entered  service  under  the  general,  and,  from  various  causes,  had  become 
impatient  of  the  service.  With  this  feeling,  it  became  a  common  practice  to  ap 
ply  to  the  French  consul,  Toussard,  for  certificates  to  exempt  them  from  military 
duty.  This  practice  was  continued,  much  to  the  detriment  of  the  service.  Gen* 
eral  Jackson,  therefore,  on  the  28th  of  February — martial  law  being  in  force,  and 
the  city  of  New  Orleans  his  camp — issued  an  order  to  all  persons  holding  these 
certificates,  countersigned  by  the  commanding  general,  to  retire  from  the  city  into 
the  interior  of  the  country.  Louallier,  a  Frenchman,  in  a  spirit  of  disaffection  and 
insubordination,  immediately  upon  the  issuing  of  this  order  published  an  article 
in  the  '  Louisiana  Gazette,'  denouncing  the  order  as  tyrannical  and  unjust,  and 
calling  upon  the  French  population  to  flock  to  the  standard  of  the  French  consul 
for  protection.  The  effect  of  such  conduct  was  to  increase  disaffection  and  to  en 
courage  treason  in  his  camp.  He  therefore  caused  Louallier  to  be  arrested.  Ap 
plication  was  made  to  Judge  Hall,  upon  affidavit,  for  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in 
behalf  of  Louallier,  which  was  issued  and  directed  to  the  general,  who  refused, 
upon  demand  made,  to  deliver  the  body  of  Louallier.  These  are  the  main  facts 
of  the  case,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  failure  of  the  general  to  comply  with  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  which  is  the  point  most  relied  on  by  those  who  object  to 
this  bill.  The  question  presented  is  simply  this :  was  the  general,  under  those 
circumstances,  bound  to  obey  the  writ  ?  Surely  not ;  and  for  this  reason :  New 
Orleans  was  his  camp,  and  he  had  declared  martial  law  from  the  necessity  of  the 
case ;  martial  law  was  the  paramount  law  for  the  time.  The  civil  authority,  as 
far  as  it  came  in  conflict  with  the  reasons  of  necessity  upon  which  it  was  declared, 
of  course  yielded." 

When  it  was  asked  by  those  who  resisted  the  refunding  of 
the  fine  why  martial  law  was  not  declared  at  Washington  as 
well  as  at  New  Orleans,  Mr.  M'Clernand  replied : 

"  On  this  point  I  can  not  give  any  information ;  but  this  much  I  can  say,  that  I 
would  to  God  there  had  been  martial  law,  or  any  other  kind  of  law  which  recog 
nized  American  authority  and  honor,  and  not  the  law  of  British -bayonets  and  con 
quest.  Yes,  sir ;  General  Jackson  was  not  here,  nor  was  martial  law  here ;  but 
Admiral  Cockburn  and  General  Ross  were  here,  and  British  rule  and  rapine 
were  here. 

"  '  Murder  bared  his  arm,  and  rampant  war 
Yoked  the  red  dragons  of  his  iron  car.' 

The  President  and  cabinet  were  put  to  flight;  the  government  was  broken  up; 
the  Capitol  was  wrapped  in  flames ;  our  colors — the  proud  ensign  of  the  Repub 
lic — were  rudely  snatched  from  their  height,  and  trampled  in  the  dust;  the  mon- 
ament  erected  to  the  memory  of  the  naval  heroes  who  fell  at  Tripoli  was  defaced 
and  desecrated ;  this  city  was  sacked  and  plundered.  Yes !  the  American  eagle 


JOHN   ALEXANDER   M'CLERNAND.  521 

was  made  the  plaything  and  sport  of  the  British  lion.  All  this  was  here  ;  and  to 
this  gentlemen  would  point  as  an  argument  against  General  Jackson's  martial 
law— against  the  suppression  of  treason,  and  the  recovery  of  the  American  name 
by  the  brilliant  victory  of  New  Orleans." 

Again  he  said,  portraying  the  character  of  General  Jackson : 

"He  is  the  incarnation  of  the  popular  principle  of  the  age.  He  speaks  the 
voice  of  a  great  people ;  and  past  events  prove  that  his  country  is  resolved  that 
his  fame  shall  go  down  to  posterity  untarnished.  The  fact  that  this  act  of  repar 
ation  has  been  so  long  neglected,  serves  only  to  strengthen  the  reason  for  attend 
ing  to  it  now.  Debts  of  gratitude  are  not  bound  by  the  statute  of  limitations.' 

During  the  same  session,  1843-4,  he  delivered  a  speech  in 
favor  of  the  repeal  of  the  second  section  of  the  Apportionment 
Law,  requiring  the  states  to  elect  representatives  to  Congress 
by  single  districts.  [See  title,  HOWELL  COBB.]  The  grounds 
of  his  argument  were  substantially  these  : 

"  The  Constitution  declares  that  the  times,  places,  and  man 
ner  of  holding  elections  for  senators  and  representatives  shall  be 
prescribed  to  each  state  by  the  Legislature  thereof,  but  the  Con 
gress  may  at  any  time,  by  law,  make  or  alter  such  regulations, 
except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing  senators." 

Congress  omitted  "  to  make  or  alter  such  regulations"  them 
selves  by  their  own  direct  act,  but,  instead,  called  upon  such  of 
the  states,  by  law,  as  elected  representatives  by  general  ticket,  to 
cease  to  do  so,  and  thereafter  to  elect  them  by  districts.  Mr. 
M'Clernand  held  that  this  exertion  of  power  was  liable  to  sev 
eral  serious  objections,  because  it  affirmed  a  subordination  of 
the  states  to  Federal  authority  otherwise  than  as  expressed  in 
the  Constitution ;  because,  by  a  sort  of  numeral  process,  it  con 
verted  one  power  into  two — the  power  of  Congress  to  do  a  par 
ticular  act,  into  a  compound  power  to  require  the  states  to  do 
the  same  act ;  and  because  the  law,  under  the  circumstances, 
would  have  thrown  upon  several  states  the  expense  and  trouble 
of  holding  extra  sessions  of  their  Legislatures  to  comply  with  the 
mandate  of  Congress. 

During  the  same  session,  he  delivered  an  elaborate  speech  on 
the  Rhode  Island  controversy,  which  was  very  extensively  pub 
lished. 

During  the  second  session  of  the  same  Congress,  he  brought 
forward,  as  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  a  com 
prehensive  and  interesting  report,  accompanied  by  a  bill  for  a 
grant  of  land  to  aid  in  the  completion  of  the  Illinois  and  Mich 
igan  Canal. 


522  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

In  1845,  in  the  course  of  public  discussion  in  regard  to  the 
election  of  governor,  which  was  to  take  place  during  the  next 
year,  the  name  of  Mr.  M'Clernand  was  mentioned  as  a  nomi 
nee  for  that  office.  It  is  understood  that  his  friends  would  have 
put  him  in  nomination  if  he  had  consented.  In  answer  to  a  let 
ter  upon  the  subject,  he  said : 

"  SHAWNEETOWN,  July  11,  1845. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  obligations  imposed 
upon  me  by  the  partiality  manifested  by  you,  and  other  politi 
cal  friends  in  my  behalf,  for  the  office  of  governor.  I  assure 
you,  sir,  it  will  ever  be  my  pride,  as  it  will  be  my  duty,  to 
cherish  a  distinction  so  honorable  and  flattering  to  my  ambition, 
as  one  of  the  most  grateful  recollections  of  my  life.  But,  in 
making  this  acknowledgment,  it  is  proper  to  state,  in  answer 
to  your  inquiry  respecting  my  '  views  and  wishes  on  the  sub 
ject,'  that  I  have  no  disposition  whatever  to  aspire  to  or  occupy 
the  station  in  question.  Indeed,  I  would  avoid  rather  than  covet 
its  honors  and  weighty  responsibilities,  especially  as  it  is  hardly 
possible  a  contingency  can  occur  that  would  demand  of  me,  as 
a  patriotic  duty,  the  sacrifice  of  my  personal  inclinations  in  the 
matter  for  the  public  good.  Whatever  pretensions,  therefore, 
I  may  be  supposed  to  possess  in  relation  to  the  office,  I  cheer 
fully  resign  in  favor  of  those  who  are  willing  to  accept  it,  and 
are  better  able  to  serve  the  state  to  advantage  than  myself,  and 
doubtless  there  are  many  of  this  class." 

In  1844,  in  consequence  of  a  change  of  the  usual  time,  by 
an  act  of  the  Legislature,  another  election  for  representatives 
in  Congress  came  on.  Mr.  M'Clernand  was  re-elected  without 
opposition. 

He  voted  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  for  the  modifica 
tion  of  the  tariff.  He  voted,  also,  for  the  notice  to  terminate 
the  convention  with  Great  Britain  for  the  joint  occupation  of 
the  Oregon  Territory.  He  was  one  of  the  number  who  insisted 
upon  the  maintenance  of  the  extreme  claim  to  fifty-four  degrees 
forty  minutes,  and  was  earnestly  bent  upon  its  assertion.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  favor  of  measures  to  protect  our  em 
igrants  on  the  route  to  Oregon,  particularly  in  favor  of  the 
bill  for  a  regiment  of  dragoons  designed  for  that  purpose.  As 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  to  the  various 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  M'CLERNAND.      523 

and  responsible  duties  of  which  station  he  devoted  himself  with 
constant  assiduity,  he  brought  forward  a  bill,  accompanied  by 
a  report,  to  grant  to  the  State  of  Tennessee  the  public  lands  of 
the  United  States  lying  within  her  limits.  These  lands  had 
been  the  subject  of  a  report  and  bill  by  President  Polk,  when 
he  was  representative  from  Tennessee,  the  object  of  which  like 
wise  was  to  grant  them  to  that  state.  The  bill  reported  by 
Mr.  M'Clernand  became  a  law. 

No  member  has  given  a  more  zealous  support  to  the  admin 
istration  in  its  measures  touching  the  Mexican  war.  He  has 
voted  to  place  at  the  disposal  of  the  executive  all  the  men  and 
money  demanded  to  give  success  to  bur  arms.  His  views  as  to 
the  justice  of  the  war,  the  plan  of  prosecuting  it,  and  its  con 
sequences,  were  fully  expressed  in  a  speech  delivered  on  the  16th 
of  June,  1846. 

During  the  first  session  of  the  twenty-ninth  Congress,  he 
brought  forward  one  of  the  most  important  measures  then  at 
tracting  public  attention,  the  bill  to  reduce  and  graduate  the 
price  of  the  public  lands,  upon  the  principles  and  details  of 
which  he  had  bestowed  great  consideration. 

A  bill  for  a  similar  purpose  was  reported  a  few  days  later 
by  Mr.  Breese,  in  the  Senate,  and  passed  that  body.  When 
sent  to  the  House,  where  the  original  House  bill  was  under 
consideration,  it  was  taken  up  in  preference  to  the  other,  and, 
having  been  amended,  was  passed.  The  Senate  amended  the 
amendments  of  the  House,  and  the  bill,  when  again  returned  to 
the  House  at  a  very  late  period  of  the  session,  was  laid  on  the 
table. 

At  the  ensuing  session,  as  chairman  of  the  same  committee, 
he  took  an  active  part  in  favor  of  the  bill  to  bring  into  market 
the  mineral  region  lying  around  Lake  Superior,  valuable  for  its 
extent,  and  the  quantity  and  rich  quality  of  the  copper  found 
there.  This  was  the  consummation  of  the  policy  commenced 
during  the  previous  session,  by  a  similar  bill,  reported  from  the 
Committee  on  Public  Lands,  for  the  sale  of  the  lead  lands  in 
Illinois,  Iowa,  Ouisconsin,  and  Arkansas,  which  became  a  law. 

He  voted,  at  the  last  session,  against  the  "Wilmot  Proviso, 
taking  an  independent  position,  and  opposing  the  agitation  of 
the  question  of  slavery  as  ill  timed  and  unwise. 

He  is  not  understood  to  have  at  any  time  denied  the  power 


524  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

of  Congress  to  appropriate  money  for  needful  national  objects 
of  internal  improvement,  but  he  has  denied  the  policy  of  the  ex 
ercise  of  such  a  power  upon  the  ground  that,  from  experience 
and  the  comparative  irresponsibility  of  the  members  of  Con 
gress  (selected  in  each  instance  either  by  a  state  or  a  district) 
to  the  whole  people  of  the  Union,  the  power  must  be  abused. 
He  has  voted  accordingly. 

During  the  last  session,  he  was  called  on  by  the  Jackson 
Monument  Committee  to  present  their  memorial,  which  he  did. 
On  that  occasion  he  pronounced  a  eulogy  on  General  Jackson 
which  was  highly  esteemed,  and  which  we  noted  at  the  time  for 
transfer  to  these  pages.  He  said : 

"  Mr.  Speaker,  I  rise  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  the  memorial  of  the  Jackson 
Monument  Committee  of  this  city,  praying  Congress  to  place  at  the  disposal  of 
that  committee  four  brass  cannon  and  two  brass  mortars,  weighing  in  all  4930 
pounds,  to  be  used  as  material  in  constructing  a  monument  to  General  Andrew 
Jackson,  and  to  ask  for  the  memorial  the  favorable  consideration  of  this  honorable 
body.  Too  much  praise  can  not  be  bestowed  upon  the  members  of  this  com 
mittee  for  their  zeal  and  public  spirit  in  so  noble  an  enterprise,  or  upon  the  coun 
try  for  the  promptness  and  liberality  with  which  they  have  responded  to  it.  To 
this  extent  they  have  disproved  the  charge,  if  it  be  not  altogether  untrue,  that 
republics  are  ungrateful.  The  committee  represent  that  they  are  now  assured 
ample  means  may  be  obtained  by  voluntary  contributions  to  ensure  the  early  com 
pletion  of  the  monument.  They  state  that  the  column  of  Napoleon,  formed  after 
the  model  of  that  of  the  Emperor  Trajan,  is  made  of  the  cannon  taken  by  Napo 
leon  at  the  battle  of  Austerlitz ;  that  the  equestrian  statue  of  Wellington,  now  in 
course  of  completion,  is  to  be  made  of  the  brass  pieces  captured  by  that  general 
at  Waterloo ;  and  it  satisfactorily  appears  that  the  pieces  asked  for  are  the  same 
which  were  captured  by  General  Jackson  in  a  gallant  and  brilliant  affair  at  Pen- 
Bacola  in  1814,  and  that  they  are  now  unserviceable.  From  these  considerations, 
the  committee  appeal  to  Congress  to  devote  these  pieces  to  the  purpose  of  per 
petuating  the  form  of  the  illustrious  chief  whose  skill  and  valor  gave  them  to  his 
country.  This  disposition  of  these  trophies  is  peculiarly  appropriate ;  not  that 
'  sculptured  stone'  or  '  ever-during  brass'  can  add  to  the  imperishable  renown  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  but  because  it  is  just  that  a  statue  raised  by  a  grateful  people 
to  the  memory  of  a  departed  hero  should  embody  in  its  form  a  part,  at  least,  of 
the  tokens  of  his  victories.  It  is  not  only  sanctioned  by  custom,  but  is  eminently 
proper  as  a  means  of  perpetuating  the  influence  of  the  virtuous  and  patriotic  ex 
amples  of '  the  illustrious  dead.'  This  is  not  the  proper  occasion  to  pronounce  a 
formal  eulogy  upon  the  man  whose  last  aspirations  were  for  the  welfare,  the 
glory,  and  happiness  of  his  country.  But  I  may  be  allowed  to  say  that  Andrew 
Jackson  was  a  man  of  no  common  order.  Left  fatherless  and  friendless  in  his 
youth,  he  wrote  the  word  '  excelsior1  upon  his  crest,  and  pushed  his  way  upward 
and  onward  to  power  and  distinction,  from  the  rank  of  a  private  to  that  of  a  gen 
eral,  and  from  the  position  of  a  citizen  to  that  of  chief  magistrate  of  the  republic. 
The  name  of  Jackson — the  indomitable — the  strong-willed — the  honest — the  un 
flinching — the  man  of  iron — has  become  a  household  word  to  his  countrymen,  an 
invocation  of  patriotism  and  duty  to  all  lands.  What  he  said  and  did  is  written 
on  that  record  of  words  and  deeds  accumulated  from  the  heroism  and  wisdom  of 


JOHN  ALEXANDER  M'CLERNAND.      525 

ages ;  and  there,  as  a  lesson  and  incentive  to  posterity,  it  will  be  written  forever. 
Endowed,  perhaps,  with  a  less  bold  and  subtle  philosophy  than  Jefferson,  with 
a  less  dazzling  and  theoretic  genius  than  Napoleon,  he  was  the  equal  of  both  in 
energy  and  concentration  of  purpose — their  superior  in  the  attribute  of  common 
sense.  His  principles  were  lofty  and  stern — proof  alike  against  power  and  cor 
ruption.  As  Aristides,  he  could  have  written,  unmoved,  the  ballot  of  his  own 
ostracism,  or  watched,  uri tempted  by  the  flickering  torches  of  night,  over  the 
treasure  which  strewed  the  field  of  Marathon.  As  a  general,  he  was  active  and 
daring,  yet  vigilant  and  judicious.  To  constancy  and  fortitude  he  added  impetu 
ous  and  almost  romantic  valor.  At  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  he  won  the  crown 
ing  glory  of  his  military  career.  There  he  confirmed  the  great  truth  proclaimed 
upon  the  classic  plains  of  Plata?a — the  pre-eminence  of  free  states,  in  the  defense 
of  their  hearth-stones  and  independence,  over  the  unwieldy  empires  of  crowned 
conquerors.  As  it  is  the  habit  of  a  free  people  to  delegate  great  authority  to  one 
man,  who  is  the  reflex  of  the  popular  will — the  individualized  Argora,  through 
which  the  voice  of  a  nation  is  heard  in  after  ages — so  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that 
Jackson,  with  such  qualities  as  he  possessed,  should  have  been  that  man  to  the 
people  of  his  time.  The  pride  we  feel  in  the  man  is  not  a  partisan  pride.  It 
arises  from  what  he  did  for  his  country.  There  are  many  in  this  hall  who  beard 
ed  him — unsuccessfully,  it  is  true,  but  fearlessly — when  he  was  wrapped  in  his 
pride  of  power  and  place,  and  wielded  with  boldness  and  energy  the  sword  of 
state.  But  this  arose  from  honest  difference  of  opinion.  It  was  not  discreditable 
to  them  nor  him.  All  that  fierce  denunciation,  generated  and  sustained  by  party 
zeal,  has  passed  away  with  its  cause.  There  is  no  Vandal  hand  to  tear  away  the 
first  leaf  in  his  chaplet  of  laurel ;  and  the  smoke  of  detraction  which  was  to  ob 
scure  his  fame  has  passed  away  forever.  I  have  no  more  to  add.  I  am  confident 
that  the  prayer  of  the  memorialists  will  be  granted  by  this  honorable  House." 

In  1846  Mr.  M'Clernand  was  elected  a  third  time  to  Congress, 
and  again  without  opposition.  In  the  course  of  the  past  sum 
mer  he  was  frequently  called  upon  to  address  the  soldiers  re 
turning  from  the  war.  At  a  public  dinner  given  in  Fairfield, 
on  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  return  of  the  Illinois 
Volunteers,  being  called  for,  he  delivered  an  address  to  the  as 
sembled  multitude,  numbering  near  four  thousand  persons, 
which  thus  concludes : 

"  I  can  not,  gentlemen,  like  many  of  you,  claim  the  merit  of  having  served  my 
country  in  the  present  war,  but  I  have  strove,  nevertheless,  to  do  my  duty  in  an 
other  branch  of  the  public  service.  As  your  representative  in  Congress,  I  have 
voted  all  the  supplies  demanded  to  give  success  to  our  arms ;  perhaps  no  one  has 
labored  more  earnestly  to  secure  the  soldier  a  just  compensation  for  his  patriotic 
services  than  myself.  For  the  first  time  since  the  establishment  of  the  govern 
ment,  a  bounty  of  land  has  been  granted  to  volunteers  by  the  act  of  the  last 
Congress.  This  was  right ;  such  a  provision  will  enable  the  meritorious  soldier  to 
retire  to  an  independent  home,  blessed  by  the  charms  of  domestic  life,  if  he  should 
survive  the  chances  of  war.  With  my  opinions,  if  I  had  voted  otherwise,  I  would 
have  felt  myself  as  guilty  as  the  judgment  of  the  world  has  pronounced  the  Scots 
who  sold  their  king  for  money. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  in  conclusion,  allow  me  to  exhort  you  to  support  our  civil 
institutions  as  one  of  the  highest  duties  incumbent  upon  citizens  and  patriots. 
Study  and  understand  their  twofold  character ;  remember  that  they  are  both  local 


526  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

and  general,  state  and  federal ;  and  to  what  is  federal,  accord  the  things  that  are 
federal;  to  what  is  state,  the  rights  of  the  states.  In  short,  uphold  the  whole 
system  by  confining  the  action  of  its  several  parts  to  their  appointed  spheres. 
Thus  guarded  and  protected,  the  Union  will  long  endure  as  the  arc  of  our  politi 
cal  safety :  like  the  grain  of  mustard-seed  compared  in  the  parable  to  the  kingdom 
of  God,  it  will  grow  and  continue  to  grow  until  its  shadow  shall  cover  the  whole 
earth." 

The  public  life  of  Mr.  M'Clernand  has  been  remarkably  act 
ive,  successful,  and  full  of  events.  His  habits  are  laborious 
and  persevering ;  and  if  there  is  one  attribute  which  shines  con 
spicuous  in  his  character,  it  is  his  indomitable  energy.  His 
style  of  speaking  is  clear  and  argumentative,  and  his  devotion 
to  the  political  principles  he  professes  of  the  most  ardent  de 
scription.  In  all  matters  of  public  duty,  as  well  as  of  individ 
ual  business  interests,  his  constituents  have  found  in  him  a 
laborious  and  faithful  representative. 


^)  . 


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^.4*ecaa  Jbet  or  destroy  ed»- 

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igrated 


.;.?!  r«.«rj  j  enmity. 

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d^rnd  h«>'5oir(i  hini. 

v:  A  'ge&f&man  and  a  planter  ,  -  ^,r, 

'./vrtpacity  for  any  s^at;- 

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ro 


twelve  years  of  age,  he  ran  away  from  his  father  to  join  his  el- 

527 


528  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

der  brother,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  Maryland  line.  He  was 
sent  for  and  brought  back  home. 

John  G.  Chapman  was  born  near  his  present  residence  on 
the  5th  of  July,  1798.  His  early  life  was  marked  by  a  feeble 
constitution  and  delicate  health,  by  reason  of  which  his  studies 
were  more  than  once  abandoned.  The  first  four  years  of  his 
education  were  spent  under  the  tuition  of  the  Reverend  John 
Weems,  the  rector  of  the  parish.  It  was  completed  in  Penn 
sylvania  and  New  England. 

In  1818  he  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  the 
late  Samuel  Riddle  and  Judge  Alexander  Thompson,  at  Bed 
ford,  Pennsylvania.  After  a  year  spent  under  their  instruction, 
he  went  into  the  office  of  the  then  Attorney  General  of  the 
United  States,  the  late  William  Wirt,  at  Washington,  and 
continued  with  him  until  admitted  to  practice.  Admiring  the 
science,  Mr.  Chapman  possessed  little  taste  for  the  practice  of 
the  profession.  His  inclinations  tended  toward  literature,  a 
pursuit  which  he  would  have  chosen  had  he  then  been  in  a  sit- 
nation  to  gratify  his  preference.  His  father,  moreover,  was  an 
active,  energetic  man,  unwilling  to  see  his  son  a  book-worm,  and 
he  thought  that  he  should  make  himself  as  useful  as  possible. 

When  he  came  to  the  bar  in  1820,  he  obtained  a  more  ex 
tensive  practice  than  he  desired,  and  would  have  remained  in 
the  profession,  but  that,  in  1824,  he  was  sent  to  the  Legisla 
ture,  and,  his  father  and  uncle  dying  about  that  time,  heavy 
cares  and  responsibilities  were  thrown  upon  him  in  the  settle 
ment  of  their  estates,  and  in  the  care  of  his  father's  family. 
After  the  year  1826,  his  duties  in  the  Legislature  detained  him 
from  the  spring  courts  in  the  district,  and  he  thus  gradually 
withdrew  from  the  practice. 

He  took  his  seat  in  the  Legislature  of  Maryland,  as  a  dele 
gate  from  Charles  county,  in  December,  1824,  and  continued 
a  member  of  that  body,  by  successive  re-elections,  until  Octo 
ber,  1829,  when  the  condition  of  his  private  affairs  made  it 
necessary  for  him  to  decline  another  election. 

At  the  first  and  second  sessions  of  his  service  in  the  Legis 
lature  he  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Grievances  and 
Courts  of  Justice  ;  and  in  1826,  his  third  session,  he  was  chair 
man  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  the  most  laborious 
station  in  the  House.  Before  the  close  of  that  session  the 


JOHN    GRANT   CHAPMAN.  529 

speaker  resigned  his  office,  and  Mr.  Chapman  was  elected  in 
his  stead  by  a  unanimous  vote.  He  continued  to  hold  that 
office  until  his  retirement  from  the  House  in  1829.  In  1830 
he  was  again  sent  to  the  House  of  Delegates,  and,  at  the  end 
of  the  session,  again  declined  another  election.  In  September 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  in  which  body  he 
remained  until  1836,  when  his  term  expired.  During  the  last 
three  years  of  that  term  he  served  as  the  President  of  the  Sen 
ate,  by  its  unanimous  vote.  He  then  retired  from  political  life, 
as  he  thought,  forever ;  but  in  1843  he  was  again  solicited  to 
be  a  candidate  for  the  House  of  Delegates,  that,  by  his  advice 
and  experience,  he  might  aid  in  extricating  the  state  from  em 
barrassment,  and  in  saving  her  from  repudiation.  He  consent 
ed  to  serve,  and  was  again  elected.  His  speech  at  the  ensuing 
session,  in  favor  of  the  bill  to  provide  for  completing  the  Ches 
apeake  and  Ohio  Canal  from  the  revenues  of  the  work,  is  among 
his  best  efforts  to  sustain  the  policy  and  uphold  the  credit  of 
his  state  ;  and  he  thus  speaks  of  the  possibility  of  repudiation, 
however  remote  or  contingent : 

"  Those  who  think  that  the  interests  of  the  state  require  that  this  canal  should 
be  completed  are  met  by  objections,  that  expectations  have  not  been  gratified, 
results  have  not  been  realized.  Sir,  did  any  man  ever  expect  any  results  from 
this  undertaking  until  it  shall  reach  the  mountains?  And,  from  the  commence 
ment  to  the  present  day,  no  man  has  had  the  hardihood  to  advance  the  opinion 
that  any  profit  could  flow  from  this  work  until  it  shall  reach  that  point  where  Na 
ture  has  piled  up  wealth  for  you  in  uncounted  millions.  Sir,  when  Columbus 
stood  upon  the  eastern  shore  of  the  great  Atlantic,  he  reasoned  that  there  must, 
be  another  shore  to  that  ocean,  and  upon  this  hypothesis  he  founded  his  opinion 
as  to  the  existence  of  another  continent.  For  eighteen  years  he  labored  to  con 
vince  the  learned  and  opulent  men  of  Europe  of  the  truth  of  his  theory.  Yet  he 
was  opposed  by  the  learned  men  of  the  University  of  Salamanca,  and  by  all  the 
wealthy  and  noble  of  Spain  for  eighteen  years.  And  after  he  had  succeeded  in 
fitting  out  an  expedition  under  the  patronage  of  Queen  Isabella,  the  difficulties 
which  he  encountered  were  enough  to  appal  the  stoutest  heart.  Sir,  if  the 
stratagems  which  he  resorted  to  had  failed  to  deceive  his  followers,  and  he  had 
been  compelled  to  retrace  his  steps  but  one  hour  before  the  coast  of  San  Salva 
dor  was  discovered,  he  would  have  been  denounced  as  a  madman.  Yet  a  con 
tinent  with  its  mighty  resources  is  the  result  of  his  perseverance. 

"  And  now,  sir,  we  are  to  determine  whether  we  will  make  one  effort  to  re 
trieve  our  situation.  Shall  we  refuse  to  provide  the  means  of  bringing  to  market 
the  greatest  staple  we  possess,  when  we  can  do  it  without  the  cost  of  a  dollar. 
Sir,  let  us  refuse  to  avail  ourselves  of  this  one  chance  of  relief,  and  I  will  not  pre 
tend  to  foretell  the  consequences.  A  large  portion  of  the  people  of  this  state 
look  to  this  canal  as  likely  to  afford  the  means  of  paying  off  the  state  debt.  It  is 
proper  that.it  should  be  tried.  The  experiment  will  cost  us  nothing.  Sir,  I  can 
not  believe  that  repudiation  would  be  the  consequences  of  a  failure  to  complete 

VOL.  I.— L  L 


530  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

this  canal,  or  to  provide  any  means  at  this  time  to  pay  off  the  state  debt.  No, 
sir,  such  a  heresy  can  not  take  root  amid  the  institutions  which  are  growing  up 
in  the  state.  Now,  when  religion  is  progressing ;  education  fostered  and  encour 
aged  ;  benevolent  societies  asking  every  year  for  corporate  existence,  to  enable 
them  the  better  to  carry  out  their  works  of  charity ;  institutions  daily  springing 
up  to  purify  our  condition ;  lyceums  being  erected  in  every  village ;  the  preacher 
and  the  schoolmaster  abroad  in  the  land,  teaching  the  lessons  of  wisdom  and  sal 
vation  ;  the  learned,  the  gifted,  and  the  wise  bearing  their  parts  in  public  instruc 
tions,  teaching  men  their  moral  accountability,  and  directing  their  attention  to  the 
varied  responsibilities  which  rest  upon  them  in  their  relations  to  society.  In 
such  a  state  of  moral  improvement,  can  it  be  believed  that  repudiation  will  find 
favor  in  the  state  ?  How,  sir,  will  you  meet  your  engagements  ?  The  bill  which 
has  been  passed  to  collect  the  revenue,  together  with  others  which  the  Ways  and 
Means  Committee  have  reported,  may  possibly  enable  us  to  pay  the  interest  in 
good  faith  without  further  taxation.  But,  sir,  there  is  a  day  ahead  of  us  when 
the  principal  debt  is  to  be  paid,  and  it  becomes  us  to  make  arrangements  to  meet 
it.  Sir,  when  this  debt  was  first  commenced,  it  was  thought  to  be  prudent  to 
provide  a  sinking  fund,  by  the  operation  of  which  the  bonds  could  be  met  at 
maturity.  That  system  has  in  part  been  defeated,  and  it  becomes  us  to  provide 
some  other  means  by  which  we  may  obtain  ultimate  relief;  and  if  this  canal  shalT 
fail,  which  would  be  against  the  settled  laws  of  nature,  and  the  results  of  every 
other  coal  canal  on  earth,  or  if  you  refuse  to  try  it,  and  throw  away  the  large 
amount  already  expended  upon  it,  taxation  without  end,  or  repudiation  will  be 
the  inevitable  result.  Sir,  repudiation  may  find  favor  among  the  politicians  and 
demagogues,  but  never  among  the  discreet,  the  prudent,  the  sober-minded  people. 
Sir,  that  class  of  men  who,  regardless  of  the  interests  and  honor  of  the  country, 
seek  to  stir  up  the  worst  passions  of  the  human  heart,  to  create  an  element  more 
congenial  to  their  own  nature,  who  flatter  and  deceive  the  people  for  the  accom 
plishment  of  their  own  purposes  and  the  gratification  of  their  own  views,  do  not 
reflect  the  sober  judgment  of  a  virtuous  people.  No,  sir,  the  descendants  of  the 
Puritan  pilgrims  who  settled  this  ancient  city  will  never  see  the  stars  and  stripes 
torn  loose  from  their  halyards,  and  the  black  flag  of  the  pirate  unfurled  over  the 
dome  of  your  Capitol. 

"  The  high  tone  of  public  morals  is  yet  capable  of  resisting  a  heresy  which  would 
destroy  the  civil  institutions  of  the  country  by  the  extermination  of  the  virtuous 
feelings  of  the  people.  But  who  can  look  through  the  vista  of  future  ages,  and 
say  what  disastrous  events  lay  behind  the  cloud  which  would  hang  over  the 
prospects  of  the  state  if  all  hope  of  the  liquidation  of  the  debt  from  other  sources 
than  taxation  is  to  be  cut  off?  I  will  not  attempt  to  raise  the  curtain  which  hides 
those  scenes  from  our  view,  or  to  pierce  the  gloom  which,  by  the  extinction  of 
hope,  would  overshadow  our  country  with  more  than  midnight  darkness.  Let 
us,  then,  look  to  the  great  principles  which  entered  into  the  organization  of  our 
government,  and  study  the  character  and  conduct  of  those  illustrious  men  from 
whom  that  form  of  government  has  been  handed  down.  We  shall  learn  lessons 
of  wisdom  from  the  noble  example  and  pure  precepts  taught  in  their  lives ;  we 
shall,  moreover,  learn  that  '  the  demagogue  is  the  worst  enemy  of  the  people ;' 
that  the  true  course  of  virtuous  ambition  is  not  to  found  its  fame  upon  the  plaudits 
of  the  multitude,  but  upon  '  the  sober  judgment  of  the  wise  and  good  ;'  upon  that 
distant  praise  which  speaks  from  the  hearts  of  millions,  and  '  gives  back  from  the 
tomb  the  echoes  of  its  own  deep  thankfulness.'  The  eye  of  the  state,  sir,  is  upon 
us.  Public  expectation  is  anxiously  awaiting  the  solution  of  the  problem  whether 
a  republic  can  exist  amid  the  excitement  of  conflicting  interests,  or  fnlfill  en 
gagements  which  may  produce  uncertain  results.  The  honor — the  welfare  of 


JOHN   GRANT   CHAPMAN.  531 

the  state  is  committed  to  your  keeping — sacra  suosquc  tibi,  commendat  Troja  pe~ 
nates.     Let  us  not  disappoint  those  high  expectations." 

In  the  spring  of  the  year,  before  his  return  home,  the  people 
of  his  county,  without  his  knowledge,  and  against  his  consent, 
presented  his  name  to  the  Whig  Convention  as  a  candidate  for 
the  office  of  governor.  In  presenting  his  name,  the  meeting 
say: 

"  We  offer  to  the  consideration  of  the  Convention  the  name 
of  our  distinguished  fellow-citizen,  General  John  G.  Chapman, 
as  one  who,  we  believe,  if  elected,  would  do  honor  to  the  sta 
tion,  and  discharge  the  executive  duties  of  the  office  of  gover 
nor  with  fidelity  and  ability,  and  with  an  eye  to  the  high  honor 
and  best  interests  of  his  native  state.  In  offering  General 
Chapman  to  the  consideration  of  the  people  of  the  State  of 
Maryland,  we  do  it  from  no  mawkish  county  pride  or  sectional 
feeling,  but  from  the  honest  conviction  of  our  minds  that  he 
possesses  the  requisite  talents,  an  elevated  purity  of  character, 
a  sterling  integrity,  and  a  dignity  and  suavity  of  manner  well 
befitting  the  station  to  which  we  wish  to  see  him  elevated. 

"  We  might  with  pride  recur  to  his  long  and  faithful  services 
in  the  councils  of  the  state ;  but  what  for  ?  John  G.  Chap 
man's  is  no  obscure  name.  He  is  well  known  throughout  Ma 
ryland,  and  his  fellow-citizens  need  no  promptings  on  that  head ; 
but  we  should  prove  recreant  to  him,  our  faithful  delegate,  if 
we  did  not  express  our  decided  approbation  and  admiration  of 
the  noble  and  splendid  efforts  he  made  at  the  recent  session  of 
the  Legislature  to  sustain  the  credit  of  the  state  in  her  now 
financial  embarrassment;  anol,  further,  for  his  masterly  sup 
port  (although  unavailing)  of  a  measure,  which  we  believe  must 
become  a  vital  one,  to  prevent  the  degradation  and  ruin  of  the 
state.  We  need  hardly  stop  to  speak  of  his  political  principles  ; 
when  the  Whigs  of  Charles  county  offer  a  man,  and  ask  the 
support  of  their  Whig  brethren  for  him,  there  can  be  no  mis 
take  how  he  stands  on  that  score." 

It  is  asserted,  that  if  the  wishes  of  the  party  had  been  ex 
pressed  by  the  Convention,  the  nomination  would  have  been 
cast  upon  him.  In  October,  1844,  he  was  again  elected  to  the 
House  of  Delegates,  and,  on  the  meeting  of  that  body,  was 
elected  speaker  by  a  unanimous  vote.  Upon  this  occasion  the 
Democratic  party  behaved  with  a  courtesy  and  kindness  which 


532  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

demonstrate  that  good  feelings  can  still  exist  among  political 
opponents.  A  prominent  member  of  that  party  called  upon 
one  of  the  friends  of  Mr.  Chapman,  and  said  that  his  friends 
desired  to  vote  for  him,  if  that  course  would  not  be  objected  to. 
At  the  close  of  every  session  during  which  he  had  presided,  the 
customary  vote  of  thanks  was  moved  by  a  member  of  the  op 
posite  party,  and  was  always  unanimously  accorded.  A  highly 
reputable  cotemporary,  speaking  of  this  particular  branch  of 
his  public  services,  says,  "  Although  he  has  always  been  a  con 
sistent,  unflinching  Whig,  yet  so  conciliating  has  been  his 
course,  that  I  have  never  heard  a  word  of  complaint  from  a 
single  individual  differing  from  him  in  political  sentiments. 
He  has  always  been  ready  to  do  justice  to  every  body  but  him 
self." 

The  first  state  paper  which  he  prepared  was  a  report,  at  the 
session  of  1824—5,  upon  the  Insolvent  System  of  Maryland. 
In  that  report  he  reviewed  the  action  of  the  Legislature  upon 
the  subject.  He  took  the  ground  that  the  liberty  of  a  man 
could  not  be  forfeited  for  debt ;  that,  although  the  law  author 
ized  the  taking  of  the  body  of  the  debtor,  yet  it  did  not  contem 
plate  that  the  creditor  should  hold  him,  or  that  he  should  be  im 
mured  in  a  prison — the  meet  abode  for  crime  alone — to  satisfy 
the  demand ;  that  his  energies  were  to  be  left  unrestrained,  to 
enable  him  to  realize  the  means  of  redeeming  his  engagements ; 
and  that,  apart  from  its  inhumanity,  the  system  was  against 
the  policy  of  the  law  and  of  society.  To  his  everlasting  honor 
be  it  said,  the  report  contained  the  first  recommendation  to  the 
Legislature  of  Maryland  to  abolish  imprisonment  for  debt,  and 
the  bill  which  he  reported  contained  a  section  dispensing  with 
residence  in  the  state.  We  feel  humiliated  to  record  that  this 
system  of  imprisonment  still  remains  a  foul  blot  on  the  escutch 
eon  of  the  state,  modified,  indeed,  within  a  year  as  respects  the 
stranger  and  the  sojourner,  but  still  a  blur  darker  than  mid 
night.  People  of  Maryland !  descendants  of  men  who  shed  their 
blood  and  offered  up  their  lives  that  you  might  be  free  !  rise  up 
in  your  strength,  and  efface  this  stain  from  your  statute-books ! 
Go,  look  at  your  prison  records !  see  what  tales  they  tell  of 
strangers  waylaid  in  darkness ;  of  citizens — whose  only  crime 
was  their  misfortune — torn  from  their  peaceful  pursuits  and  the 
bosoms  of  their  families,  that  they  might  take  a  place  almost  by 


JOHN   GRANT   CHAPMAN.  533 

the  side  of  the  felon  and  the  murderer !  As  you  walk  the  streets 
of  your  metropolis — as  you  gaze  upon  your  lofty  monuments — 
as  you  think  of  the  deeds  they  commemorate,  and  feel  the  no 
ble  impulses  they  inspire,  ask  yourselves  if  it  is  meet  that  such 
a  city  should  be  converted  into  a  foundry,  where  white  men's 
chains  may  be  forged  forever  ;  or  whether,  if  it  must  remain  so, 
it  were  not  more  fitting  that  you  should  raze  those  monuments 
to  the  ground,  that  not  one  stone  might  be  left  upon  another  ? 
We  know  something  of  the  spirit  of  your  people — we  know  that 
braver  or  more  generous  hearts  beat  not  on  earth,  and  we  be 
lieve  that  it  is  but  for  them  to  know  and  understand  the  evil 
that  is  done  in  their  midst,  in  the  name  of  Liberty,  to  ensure 
its  extirpation  from  your  soil. 

At  the  next  session  Mr.  Chapman  sought  to  remedy  other 
evils.  A  practice  had  existed  in  the  state  of  bringing  a  sepa 
rate  suit  against  each  party  to  a  bond  or  note.  If,  for  instance, 
there  were  six  obligors  to  a  bond,  or  six  endorsers  to  a  note,  there 
would  be  as  many  suits.  This  system  was  oppressive  to  debt 
ors,  many  of  whom  were  ruined  by  the  costs  wrhich  accrued  to 
lawyers,  clerks,  and  sheriffs.  It  was  said  that  there  was  no 
remedy.  Mr.  Chapman  thought  otherwise,  and,  with  much 
care,  prepared  a  bill,  which  was  submitted  to  the  supervision 
of  the  late  Judge  Clement  Dorsey,  a  humane  and  an  experi 
enced  lawyer.  The  bill  was  reported,  and  became  a  law.  It 
has  saved  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  debtor  class  of  the  com 
munity.  It  was  entitled  "  An  Act  to  prevent  the  unnecessary 
Accumulation  of  Costs  in  Civil  Suits" — December  Session, 
1825,  chapter  167. 

Great  confusion  had  existed  in  the  land-titles  of  the  state  by 
reason  of  the  records  of  the  courts  not  having  been  kept  up  as 
required  by  law.  On  the  motion  of  Mr.  Chapman,  an  inquiry 
was  instituted  into  their  condition,  and  measures  were  adopted 
to  have  the  records  completed  and  thereafter  kept  up.  Mr. 
Chapman  had  seen  the  evil,  and  was  resolved  that  it  should  be 
corrected. 

At  the  session  of  1826,  he  was  chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Ways  and  Means  until  the  House  of  Delegates  had  nearly 
completed  all  its  financial  measures.  The  finances  of  the  state 
at  this  time  were  in  a  condition  which  required  a  mind  of  no 
ordinary  capacity  to  devise  the  means  to  meet  its  heavy  and 


534  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

increasing  obligations.  The  journals  of  the  Legislature  and 
the  voices  of  an  approving  constituency  testify  to  the  manner 
in  which  he  discharged  his  responsible  duties.  A  new  treas 
urer  had  been  appointed,  and  many  changes  were  to  be  made 
in  the  organization  of  the  department.  The  treasurer,  George 
Maccubin,  was  an  able  and  faithful  officer ;  and,  with  his  aid, 
such  ways  and  means  were  suggested  as  put  the  treasury  in  a 
condition  to  meet  all  demands  upon  it. 

About  this  time  the  state  commenced  her  system  of  internal 
improvements.  Mr.  Chapman  advocated  it;  and,  looking  to 
the  probability  of  large  demands  to  be  made  upon  the  treasury, 
he  prepared  and  reported  a  general  system  of  taxation,  to  reach 
all  the  property  in  the  state.  A  direct  tax  had  been  in  exist 
ence  since  the  war  of  1812,  but  it  had  been  reduced  to  thirty 
thousand  dollars,  and  was  kept  up  as  a  nucleus  upon  which  to 
raise  additional  means  when  necessary.  That  tax  was  levied 
upon  the  visible  property  of  the  state,  ratably  by  the  counties. 
It  is  reported  to  have  been  unequal  in  its  operation,  and  un 
just,  being  paid  mainly  by  the  agriculturalists ;  it  was  defect 
ive  as  the  basis  of  a  system.  Mr.  Chapman  thought  that,  ac 
cording  to  the  Bill  of  Rights,  every  man  should  contribute  ac 
cording  to  the  actual  value  of  his  real  and  personal  property. 
This  principle  met  with  opposition  from  the  moneyed  interests 
of  the  state.  It  was  understood  that  an  informal  agreement 
existed  on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  that,  if  the  House  would  pass 
the  appropriation  bills  for  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail-road 
Company,  the  former  body  would  pass  the  General  Tax  Bill, 
as  all  such  bills  must  first  be  passed  by  the  House  of  Delegates. 
The  House  passed  both  bills  and  sent  them  to  the  Senate,  which 
last-named  body  passed  the  Appropriation  Bill,  but  rejected  the 
Tax  Bill.  It  is  said  that  Baltimore  influence  defeated  it.  This 
apparent  breach  of  faith  naturally  led  to  some  irritation.  The 
existing  direct  tax  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  depended  upon  an 
nual  enactment ;  and,  although  Mr.  Chapman  was  then  speak 
er,  he  left  the  chair,  and  made  a  report  from  the  Committee  of 
Ways  and  Means  recommending  a  discontinuance  of  that  un 
equal  and  inadequate  tax,  and  effected  it.  The  principle  of 
the  bill  which  Mr.  Chapman  had  reported  is  now  the  basis  of 
the  system  adopted  by  the  state.  He  defends  it  as  the  correct 
principle,  and  insists  that  if  it  had  been  adopted  when  the  bill 
was  first  reported,  the  state  would  never  have  suspended. 


JOHN   GRANT   CHAPMAN.  535 

The  primary  school  system  in  Charles  county  owes  its  suc 
cess  more  to  Mr.  Chapman  than  to  any  other  individual,  al 
though  many  others  labored  long  and  arduously  in  the  cause. 
Through  his  exertions,  a  sufficient  fund  was  accumulated  by 
reinvestments  of  a  small  annual  surplus  to  put  the  system  in 
operation. 

The  Washington  Monument  in  Baltimore  presents  another 
subject  of  interest,  in  respect  to  which,  we  believe,  we  are  not 
mistaken  in  attributing  to  Mr.  Chapman  the  credit  of  obtaining 
satisfactory  and  successful  legislation.  That  work  had  cost  a 
large  sum.  The  state  had  appropriated  to  its  completion  the 
avails  of  the  lottery  system,  in  addition  to  a  special  lottery 
grant ;  but,  believing  that  there  had  not  been  the  necessary 
prudence  in  expending  these  means,  the  Legislature  had  stop 
ped  the  application  of  the  funds ;  an  investigation  was  made, 
by  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means ;  a  detailed  report  fol 
lowed,  and  a  bill,  appropriating  the  necessary  funds,  was  re 
ported  and  passed.  Under  that  act  the  monument  has  been 
completed. 

It  is  every  where  known  that  the  State  of  Maryland  has  en 
couraged  and  aided  a  system  of  improvement  beyond  her  means. 
It  is  asserted,  however,  that  her  embarrassments  have  been 
produced  by  unwise  management  and  improvident  expenditures 
on  the  part  of  the  companies  more  than  by  extravagant  appro 
priations  ;  and  that,  if  the  state  bonds  had  not  been  wastefully 
sacrificed,  her  works  would  have  been  comparatively  free  from 
debt.  Those  who  advocated  a  liberal  and  enlarged  system  de 
ny  all  responsibility  for  the  waste  and  misappropriation  of  the 
funds.  From  the  commencement  of  the  system,  Mr.  Chapman 
has  never  doubted  as  to  its  propriety.  Some  of  the  views  which 
have  controlled  his  conduct  in  respect  to  it,  we  find  thus  ex 
pressed  by  himself: 

"  The  situation  of  Maryland  is,  in  many  respects,  a  delicate 
one,  as  regards  her  position  and  relations  to  the  Union.  Look 
ing  to  the  possibility  of  a  dismemberment,  I  have  considered 
it  important  that  the  ties  which  bind  us  together  should  b& 
strengthened,  and  that,  in  the  event  of  a  rupture,  Maryland 
should  hold  the  key  of  the  Western  trade  and  commerce.  We 
are  nearer  to  a  larger  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  than  any 
other  seaport  that  is  accessible,  and,  with  proper  and  prompt 


536  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

efforts,  should  have  secured  the  trade  of  the  West  upon  terms 
more  advantageous  to  her.  Again,  in  any  political  division 
which  might  be  formed  after  a  dismemberment,  Maryland 
would  be  a  frontier  state,  exposed  to  all  the  evils  of  such  a  sit 
uation  ;  and  it  is  not  a  consideration  devoid  of  interest  to  which 
division  she  would  belong.  Her  institutions  would  lead  her  to 
a  Southern  union,  while  her  geographical  position  and  other  re 
lations  would  incline  her  to  the  North.  I  have  ever  looked  to 
these  works  of  improvement  for  the  richest  advantages  which 
were  expected  to  flow  from  their  construction.  That  part  of 
the  state  in  which  I  reside  requires  no  canals  or  rail-roads ;  we 
have  navigation  almost  to  every  man's  door.  But  other  con 
siderations  besides  those  of  local  advantages,  or  an  ephemeral 
popularity,  have  prompted  me  in  my  course  and  efforts  on  the 
subject  of  internal  improvement.  I  believe  the  policy  of  Mary 
land  to  have  been  correct,  notwithstanding  the  improvident 
management  of  the  concerns,  the  wasteful  expenditure  of  her 
means,  and  the  sacrifice  of  her  bonds ;  and  I  look  forward  to 
the  time  when  she  will  reap  the  full  fruits  of  her  noble  efforts." 

In  the  fall  of  1845  Mr.  Chapman  was  nominated  and  elected 
a  member  of  the  national  House  of  Representatives,  and  was 
re-elected  in  1847  without  opposition.  His  votes  in  that  body 
have  been  guided  by  those  principles  which  have  marked  his 
political  course  through  life.  He  has  sustained  the  appropria 
tions  demanded  for  the  prosecution  of  the  Mexican  war.  He 
has,  in  an  especial  manner,  directed  the  attention  of  Congress 
to  the  oppressive  restrictions  under  which  a  great  staple-product 
of  his  own  state  labors  by  the  legislation  of  European  countries, 
and  has  in  vain  endeavored  to  procure  some  enactment  looking 
to  their  mitigation.  A  speech  delivered  by  him  in  February, 
1847,  contains  views  from  which,  considering  the  importance 
of  the  subject  to  the  people  of  Maryland,  it  seems  proper  to  ex 
tract  some  of  the  prominent  points. 

The  House  being  in  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  State 
.of  the  Union,  and  having  under  consideration  the  bill  to  in 
crease  the  revenue  derivable  from  imports,  he  offered  the  fol 
lowing  amendments : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  from  and  after  the  first 
day  of  July  next,  there  shall  be  paid  twenty  per  centum  ad  va 
lorem,  in  addition  to  all  other  duties,  on  the  following  articles, 


JOHN   GRANT   CHAPMAN.  537 

that  is  to  say  :  on  woolen  cloths  and  cassimeres ;  on  all  manu 
factures  of  cotton,  which  are  dyed,  colored,  printed,  or  stained ; 
on  all  laces ;  on  bleached  and  unbleached  linen ;  worsted  stuff 
goods  ;  all  manufactures  of  silk,  or  of  which  silk  is  a  component 
part ;  on  leather ;  on  spirits  distilled  from  grain  or  other  mate 
rials  ;  on  hemp  and  cordage ;  and  on  all  kinds  of  wines :  Pro 
vided^  That  whenever  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  satis 
faction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  that  the  tobacco, 
the  produce  of  the  United  States,  is  admitted  into  the  several 
ports  belonging  to  any  foreign  state,  kingdom,  or  government 
producing  or  manufacturing  any  of  the  said  enumerated  arti 
cles,  at  a  duty  not  exceeding  the  maximum  or  highest  rate  of 
duty  chargeable  on  any  of  them,  and  that  any  American  citi 
zen  may  export  the  tobacco  of  the  United  States  directly  there 
from  to  any  port  or  place  of  any  such  foreign  state,  kingdom, 
or  government,  and  there  dispose  of  the  same  upon  as  good 
terms  as  any  citizen  or  subject  of  said  state,  kingdom,  or  gov 
ernment,  so  far  as  any  regulation  of  government  may  affect  the 
same,  then  the  said  additional  duty  of  twenty  per  centum  shall 
be  remitted,  so  far  as  regards  such  of  the  said  articles  as  are  of 
the  produce  or  manufacture  of  such  state,  kingdom,  or  govern 
ment  as  shall  admit  the  tobacco  as  aforesaid :  And  provided 
further,  That  according  as  any  foreign  state,  kingdom,  or  gov 
ernment  shall  hereafter,  from  time  to  time,  reduce  the  rate  of 
duty  imposed  upon  the  tobacco,  the  produce  of  the  United 
States,  below  the  maximum  or  highest  rate  of  duty  imposed 
by  this  act  upon  the  foregoing  enumerated  articles,  and  when 
ever  the  said  reduction  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfac 
tion  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  then  shall  said  du 
ties  imposed  upon  said  articles,  to  wit,  on  woolen  cloths  and 
cassimeres ;  on  all  manufactures  of  cotton,  which  are  dyed3  col 
ored,  printed,  or  stained ;  on  laces ;  on  bleached  and  unbleached 
linen ;  on  worsted  stuff  goods  ;  on  all  manufactures  of  silk,  or 
of  which  silk  is  a  component  part ;  on  leather ;  on  spirits  dis 
tilled  from  grain  or  other  materials ;  on  hemp  and  cordage ; 
and  on  all  kinds  of  wines,  be  reduced  upon  a  like  scale  or  cor 
responding  reciprocal  ratio,  so  far  as  regards  such  of  the  said 
articles  as  are  of  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  such  state, 
kingdom,  or  government  as  shall  admit  the  tobacco  as  aforesaid. 
"  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  from  and  after  the  first 


538  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

day  of  July  next,  there  shall  be  levied,  collected,  and  paid,  on 
the  importation  of  the  articles  hereinafter  mentioned,  the  fol 
lowing  duties,  in  addition  to  those  now  levied  under  the  act  ap 
proved  the  thirtieth  day  of  July,  1846,  entitled  '  An  Act  reduc 
ing  the  Duties  on  Imports,  and  for  other  Purposes ;'  that  is  to  say, 
on  iron  in  bars,  not  manufactured  in  whole  or  in  part  by  roll 
ing,  fifteen  dollars  per  ton ;  on  bolt  or  bar  iron,  made  wholly  or 
in  part  by  rolling,  twenty  dollars  per  ton ;  on  all  manufactures 
of  iron,  twenty  per  centum  ad  valorem,  in  addition  to  the  pres 
ent  duties  now  levied ;  on  coal,  two  dollars  per  ton ;  on  all  ves 
sels  or  wares,  articles  and  manufactures  of  cut  glass  ;  on  plain, 
molded,  or  pressed  glass,  and  on  all  other  glass-ware  ;  on  china- 
ware,  porcelain-ware,  earthen-ware,  stone-ware,  and  all  other 
ware  composed  of  earth  or  mineral  substance,  an  additional 
duty  of  twenty  per  centum :  Provided,  That  whenever  it  shall 
be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  that  the  tobacco,  the  produce  of  the  United 
States,  is  admitted  into  the  several  ports  belonging  to  any  for 
eign  state,  kingdom,  or  government  producing  or  manufactur 
ing  any  of  the  said  articles  herein  enumerated,  upon  a  duty  not 
exceeding  the  maximum  or  highest  rate  of  duty  chargeable  on 
any  of  them,  and  that  any  citizen  of  the  United  States  may 
export  the  tobacco  of  the  United  States  directly  therefrom  to 
any  port  or  place  of  any  such  foreign  state,  kingdom,  or  govern 
ment,  and  there  dispose  of  the  same,  upon  as  good  terms  as  any 
citizen  or  subject  of  said  state,  kingdom,  or  government,  as  far 
as  any  regulation  of  government  may  affect  the  same,  then  the 
said  additional  duty  upon  iron,  not  manufactured  by  rolling ; 
on  bolt  or  bar  iron,  made  by  rolling  in  whole  or  in  part ;  on  all 
manufactures  of  iron  ;  on  coal ;  on  all  vessels  or  wares,  articles 
and  manufactures  of  cut  glass ;  on  plain,  molded,  and  pressed 
glass,  and  on  other  glass-ware  ;  on  china-ware,  porcelain- ware, 
earthen- ware,  stone-ware,  and  all  other  ware  composed  of  earth 
or  mineral  substance,  shall  be  remitted,  so  far  as  regards  such 
of  the  articles  above  recited  as  are  of  the  produce  or  manufac 
ture  of  such  state,  kingdom,  or  government  as  shall  admit  the 
tobacco,  the  growth  of  the  United  States,  as  aforesaid :  And 
provided  further,  That  according  as  any  state,  kingdom,  or 
government  shall  hereafter,  from  time  to  time,  reduce  the  rato 
of  duty  imposed  upon  tobacco,  the  produce  of  the  United  States, 


JOHN    GRANT   CHAPMAN.  539 

below  the  maximum  or  highest  rate  of  duty  imposed  by  this 
act  upon  the  foregoing  last  enumerated  articles,  and  whenever 
the  said  reduction  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  then  shall  the  duties  upon 
the  said  articles  last  enumerated  be  reduced  upon  a  like  scale 
or  corresponding  reciprocal  ratio,  so  far  as  regards  such  of  the 
said  articles  as  are  of  the  produce  or  manufacture  of  such  state, 
kingdom,  or  government  as  shall  admit  the  tobacco  as  afore 
said." 

Having  shown  the  culture  of  tobacco,  and  the  commerce 
which  arises  from  it,  to  be  among  the  most  important  interests 
of  the  country  ;  that  this  interest  has  never  received  any  aid 
or  protection  from  the  government ;  and  that,  as  an  important 
article  of  commerce  between  the  United  States  and  the  differ 
ent  countries  of  Europe,  it  is  subjected  to  inordinate  and  ex 
cessive  duties,  such  as  have  never  been  imposed  upon  any  oth 
er  article  of  commerce,  Mr.  Chapman  remarks : 

"  And  now,  sir,  what  has  been  done  to  remedy  the  evils  under  which  this  in 
terest  has  been  permitted  to  labor  from  the  commencement  of  the  government  to 
the  present  time  ?  Much  has  been  attempted,  but  little  accomplished.  As  early 
as  1785,  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  representing  this  government  at  the  court  of  France, 
called  the  attention  of  that  government  to  their  restrictions  on  this  article  of  our 
commerce,  and  remonstrated  against  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  by  the  govern 
ment.  He  succeeded  iu  obtaining  a  relaxation  of  the  restrictions,  and  for  the 
next  year  the  importation  into  France  amounted  to  35,000  hogsheads.  The  re 
strictions  were  again  increased,  and  the  amount  of  tobacco  imported  was  reduced, 
and  does  not  exceed  8000  to  10,000  hogsheads. 

"  It  would  be  needless  to  travel  over  the  whole  history  of  the  negotiations  upon 
this  subject.  It  would  occupy  more  of  the  time  of  the  House  than  I  would  have 
a  right  to  consume.  It  is  known  to  the  country  that  this  subject  was  one  of  deep 
and  absorbing  interest  for  many  years.  During  the  administrations  of  General 
Jackson,  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and  Mr.  Tyler,  several  agents  were  sent  to  Europe  to 
treat  upon  this  branch  of  commerce,  and  our  ministers  to  France,  England,  Prus 
sia,  and  Belgium  have  been  instructed  to  bring  this  subject  to  the  attention  of 
the  different  governments  to  which  they  were  accredited,  and  to  urge  upon  them 
a  repeal  or  modification  of  their  heavy  restrictions  and  monopolies.  A  gentle 
man  of  my  own  state,  who  had  given  great  attention  to  this  subject,  was  also  sent 
as  a  minister  to  Austria,  and  charged  particularly  with  this  branch  of  commerce. 
His  inquiries,  as  well  as  those  of  our  agents,  were  minute  and  particular ;  their 
efforts  constant  and  unremitted.  The  impolicy,  the  inequality,  and  injustice  of 
those  duties  have  been  properly  represented  to  the  several  governments  of  Europe, 
yet  no  change  has  been  made  except  in  Holland  and  Belgium.  In  those  countries 
the  duty  is  not  so  high  as  to  be  cause  of  complaint. 

"  It  will  be  recollected  that  a  convention  of  tobacco-planters  met  in  this  city 
in  1838,  and  another  in  1840,  to  consider  what  measures  could  be  adopted  to 
benefit  this  staple.  They  memorialized  Congress,  and  asked  that  suitable  action 
should  be  taken  to  induce  foreign  governments  to  lessen  their  duties  upon,  and 


540  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

repeal  their  monopolies  of  tobacco.  Agents  and  ministers  were  sent,  as  I  have 
stated,  to  negotiate  upon  the  subject,  and  yet  no  benefit  has  resulted  from  it,  ex 
cept  that  in  Belgium  the  duty  on  all  American  tobacco  is  now  the  same,  and  the 
transit  duty  on  that  which  is  intended  for  the  German  market  has  been  reduced. 

"  I  think,  sir,  I  am  sustained  fully  by  facts  and  experience  when  I  say  that  this 
interest  has  been  more  neglected  than  any  other  of  the  great  interests  of  the 
country.  Every  other  interest  of  the  country  has  met  with  some  favor  or  protec 
tion  from  the  government.  Cotton  was  protected,  as  long  as  necessary,  by  a  duty 
which  was  prohibitory.  Grain  has  also  been  protected  by  adequate  duties.  Iron, 
hemp,  manufactures  of  different  kinds,  have  each  been  properly  cared  for.  Salu 
tary  laws  have  been  passed  to  foster  and  protect  your  commercial  marine.  Your 
fisheries  have  received  encouragement  and  aid,  and  bounties  and  drawbacks  have 
been  extended  to  them.  But  nothing  has  been  done  to  ensure  an  increased  de 
mand  for  tobacco,  or  to  lessen  the  restrictions  imposed  by  foreign  governments 
upon  its  admission  in  their  ports,  by  which  the  producer  would  receive  an  in 
creased  price.  I  should  do  injustice  to  distinguished  gentlemen  who  have  repre 
sented  the  district  which  I  now  have  the  honor  to  represent,  as  also  to  those  who 
have  represented  other  portions  of  the  country  interested  in  the  growth  of  this 
staple,  if  I  did  not  say  that  efforts  had  been  made  from  time  to  time  to  direct  the 
attention  of  the  government  to  the  subject,  and  to  obtain  favorable  action  to  this 
interest.  But,  sir,  all  those  efforts  have  been  fruitless  and  unavailing ;  and  it  be 
comes  us  to  inquire  if  there  is  not  some  mode  by  which  the  government  can  aid 
and  encourage  this  interest,  to  place  it,  by  its  arrangements,  upon  an  equality  with 
the  other  staple  productions  of  the  country.  It  were  needless  to  inquire  whether 
the  efforts  and  attempted  action  of  the  government  on  this  subject  heretofore  has 
been  wise  or  not.  They  have  failed.  All  the  efforts  made  have  been  fruitless 
and  unavailing.  The  same  restrictions  exist ;  the  same  enormous  duties  and  ex 
actions  are  levied  by  the  governments  of  Europe,  and  so  will  continue,  until  our 
own  government  shall  speak  upon  the  subject  in  a  language  not  to  be  misunder 
stood  or  unheeded.  I  am  aware,  sir,  of  the  difficulties  attending  all  efforts  to 
draw  the  attention  of  the  government  to  this  subject,  from  the  fact  that  the  tobacco 
interest  has  but  few  representatives  on  this  floor.  But,  sir,  although  a  few,  we 
know  our  rights  as  citizens  of  this  government,  and  we  ask  no  more  than  has 
been  done  for  other  interests,  and  we  ask  it  in  the  confiding  faith  that  justice 
will  be  done  to  us. 

il  We  have  seen,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  it  is  second  to  no  other  interest  of  the 
country  except  cotton;  that  it  contributes  more  to  the  commerce  of  the  country, 
and  affords  moi*e  of  the  exchanges  for  foreign  productions ;  and  that  it  is  burden 
ed  and  oppressed  by  such  duties  and  restrictions  as  are  not  permitted  to  be  im 
posed  upon  any  of  the  other  productions  of  the  country.  Sir,  this  staple  engages 
in  its  cultivation  and  manufacture  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of  the  population 
of  the  United  States,  and  a  large  portion  of  our  shipping. 

"  And  now,  let  me  ask,  is  there  any  remedy  for  the  grievances  under  which 
we  labor  ?  Negotiation  in  the  most  amicable  spirit  has  been  tried  ;  for  fifteen 
years  has  this  government  had  her  agents  abroad  on  this  subject.  Some  of  the 
ablest  and  most  experienced  men,  learned  civilians,  accomplished  diplomatists, 
and  sagacious  commercial  men,  have  been  deputed  to  treat  upon  this  subject.  It 
has  been  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  governments  of  Europe  in  the  most  imposing 
form.  All  that  could  be  done  by  negotiation  has  been  done.  The  governments 
of  Europe  are  asked  to  place  this  article  of  commerce  upon  an  equal  footing  with 
other  articles ;  to  admit  this  production  in  their  ports  upon  terms  approaching  to 
reciprocity  ;  but  we  have  asked  in  vain.  They  talk  of  free  trade  and  amicable  ar 
rangements  in  reply,  but  their  duties  are  not  diminished,  their  restrictions  are  not 


JOHN   GRANT   CHAPMAN.  541 

removed,  their  regies  are  not  repealed,  nor  their  monopolies  discharged.     The 
same  evil  exists,  and  is  like  to  continue  as  long  as  this  government  will  permit  it, 

"  Let  us  look  at  some  of  the  treaty-stipulations  which  have  been  offered  to  us 
upon  this  subject.  The  Zoll  Verein  treaty  was  one  of  the  efforts  made  to  benefit 
this  trade.  It  was  not  acceptable  to  the  country.  The  concessions  which  it  re 
quired  of  other  interests  for  the  small  diminution  of  duties  on  tobacco  were  be 
lieved  to  be  too  great,  and  it  contained  principles  which  could  not  be  admitted  with 
out  yielding  to  the  executive  powers  which  are  believed  to  reside  in  the  legisla 
tive  branch  of  the  government.  I  mean  not  to  discuss  the  propriety  of  the  action 
of  the  Senate  in  laying  that  treaty  on  the  table.  But  it  is  known  to  the  country 
that  its  ratification  would  by  implication  have  conferred  the  power  of  legislation 
upon  the  President  and  Senate,  without  the  action  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives,  and  thus  have  put  the  whole  tariff  policy  of  the  country,  its  industry,  and 
its  revenues,  under  executive  restraints  and  control.  I  mean  not  to  speak  of  the 
reasons  which  influenced  senators  in  their  action  on  that  treaty.  The  action  of 
the  Senate,  and  the  fate  of  that  treaty,  are  matters  of  history,  and  we  may  reason 
ably  infer  some  of  the  considerations  which  led  to  its  defeat,  and  we  may  conjec 
ture  the  consequences  which  would  have  flowed  from  its  ratification  as  a  prece 
dent  of  executive  encroachment  upon  the  legislative  functions  of  the  government. 

"  There  is  another  treaty,  sir,  now  pending,  which,  if  rumor  be  true,  is  liable 
to  similar  objections.  The  particulars  of  that  treaty  have  not  been  published, 
and  I  know  nothing  of  it.  But  rumor  will  not  be  dumb,  and  it  is  said  that  its  rati 
fication  has  been  opposed  because  of  the  unequal  concessions  made  for  small  and 
unimportant  advantages  to  the  tobacco  trade.  I  speak  of  the  treaty  with  the 
King  of  Hanover. 

"  Such,  doubtless,  would  be  the  terms  and  character  of  any  treaty  which  could 
be  negotiated.  The  governments  of  Europe  will  part  unwillingly  with  any  por 
tion  of  their  taxes  upon  tobacco,  and  then  upon  terms  so  far  removed  from  re 
ciprocal  advantage  that  this  government  will  not  acquiesce  in  the  stipulated  con 
cessions. 

"  Mr.  Wheaton,  in  his  dispatch  No.  202,  dated  at  Stuttgard,  July  22,  1842,  says, 

" '  That  the  associated  states  are  not  at  present  willing  to  make  any  reduction 
on  our  leaf  tobaccoes,  unless  they  can  be  assured  that  it  will  be  followed  by  a 
corresponding  reduction  on  their  productions  and  fabrics  imported  into  the  United 
States.' 

"  Such  is  the  disposition  of  all  the  governments  of  Europe  which  levy  heavy  du 
ties  and  exactions  upon  our  tobacco,  the  second  staple  of  our  country.  They  are 
willing  to  abate  those  duties,  which  now  range  from  one  hundred  to  two  thousand 
per  cent.,  if  such  an  expression  is  correct  in  mercantile  language,  provided  this 
government  will  diminish  the  duties  which  are  levied  in  our  ports  upon  their 
fabrics  and  productions,  averaging  about  twenty  per  cent.  Where  is  the  recipro 
city?  That  principle  was  well  sustained  by  the  associated  states  in  the  Zoll 
Verein  treaty,  which  was  not  ratified  by  our  government  because,  as  is  believed, 
it  contained  concessions  upon  our  part  more  than  equivalent  for  the  unimportant 
reduction  which  they  proposed  to  make  in  their  duties  upon  our  tobacco.  The 
difficulty  of  effecting  any  arrangement  with  the  German  Customs  Union  ia  in 
creased  by  the  terms  and  nature  of  that  association,  as  every  alteration  in  their 
tariff,  entered  into  by  one  of  the  associated  states,  requires  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  states  composing  the  Customs  Union  or  Zoll  Verein.  Hence  to  treat  with 
one  of  those  states  is  to  treat  with  all ;  any  arrangement  entered  into  with  one 
of  them  requiring  the  ratification  of  all  the  others  ;  the  diversity  of  interests  and 
contrariety  of  views  inducing  different  opinions  and  conclusions,  as  their  various 
interests  may  direct  them. 


542  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

"  To  show  the  unreasonable  demands  of  the  different  states  composing  the  Cus 
toms  Union,  I  ask  the  attention  of  the  House  to  a  communication  from  the  minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  King  of  Wurtemberg  to  Mr.  Wheaton,  the  American 
plenipotentiary,  dated  September  25,  1842.  He  says, 

.  "  '  The  conference  nevertheless  does  not,  to  its  great  regret,  find  itself  at  the 
present  moment  in  a  situation  to  take  any  other  determination  upon  the  question 
of  the  tariff  of  raw  tobaccoes,  or  to  engage  in  a  more  direct  negotiation  upon  this 
subject;  among  other  reasons,  because,  above  all,  there  does  not  at  present  exist 
any  precise  proposition  as  to  the  advantages  which  the  government  of  the  United 
States,  in  case  of  a  reduction  of  the  tobacco  duties,  would  be  disposed  to  accord, 
reciprocally,  to  the  Customs  Union.' 

"  Now,  sir,  here  is  a  sentiment  which  clearly  demonstrates  that  we  are  to  look 
for  no  change  in  the  policy  of  those  states.  It  contains  the  secret  of  their  nego 
tiation  with  us.  They  require  further  concessions  from  us ;  that  we  shall  '  ac 
cord  other  advantages'  for  a  reduction  of  their  duties  on  tobacco.  We  have  seen 
that  those  duties  amount  to  about  100  per  cent,  upon  the  value  of  our  production, 
and  that  the  duties  levied  by  this  government  upon  the  imported  productions  of 
those  states  do  not  exceed  thirty  per  cent. ;  and  yet,  forsooth,  they  ask  that  other 
advantages  shall  be  offered  to  them  for  a  small  diminution  of  their  excessive  ex 
actions  upon  the  only  article  which  they  import  from  this  country,  which  can  in 
any  manner  compete  with  their  productions.  This  is  the  '  reciprocity  which  is 
accorded'  to  us,  and  we  have  borne  it,  and  negotiated,  or  attempted  to  negotiate, 
with  the  hope  of  effecting  something  like  reciprocity,  but  in  vain.  They  would 
expect  us  to  reduce  our  import  duties,  which,  in  comparison  to  theirs,  are  but 
nominal  on  these  productions,  before  they  would  reduce  theirs  in  any  way  upon 
the  tobacco  imported  from  this  country.  This  is  the  free-trade  system  which 
Europe  offers  for  our  adoption. 

"  Thus  may  we  judge  of  the  course  of  policy  which  is  likely  to  be  continued  to 
ward  us ;  and  the  governments  of  Europe  will  not  part  with  this  fruitful  source 
of  revenue  as  long  as  they  are  permitted  to  retain  it,  and  it  becomes  a  question 
of  grave  import  by  what  means  they  can  be  brought  to  change  that  policy,  and 
to  remove  the  restrictions  which  bear  so  heavily  upon  one  of  the  principal  pro 
ductions  of  the  country.  The  time  may  have  passed  when  it  was  most  probable 
that  our  demands  would  have  been  listened  to,  and  this  production  placed  upon 
the  basis  of  reciprocal  exchange.  But  it  is  never  too  late  to  seek  what  is  right, 
and  to  act  in  a  spirit  of  candor  with  that  becoming  firmness  which  the  justice  of 
the  demand  will  sanction,  that  the  principle  of  reciprocity  should  be  extended 
to  this  article  of  commerce. 

"  Now,  sir,  there  are  two  modes  of  commercial  arrangement ;  the  one  by  nego 
tiation,  the  other  a  resort  to  discriminating  or  countervailing  duties.  The  first 
has  been  tried,  and  has  proved  unavailing.  The  only  remedy  is  a  resort  to  such 
countervailing  duties  upon  the  productions  of  those  countries,  where  our  tobacco 
is  burdened  with  onerous  duties  and  restrictions,  as  will  induce  those  govern 
ments  to  open  their  ports  upon  more  favorable  terms,  or  to  treat  with  us  so  as  to 
produce  a  system  of  exchange  of  productions  upon  terms  more  nearly  approach 
ing  to  reciprocity.  It  is  not  without  precedent  in  this  government,  and  we  can 
not  now  expect  to  break  down  the  tobacco  monopolies,  or  to  procure  any  diminu 
tion  of  the  duties  and  restrictions  of  those  governments  by  negotiation  alone." 

And  he  thus  concludes : 

"  Now,  sir,  the  interest  and  the  honor  of  our  country  demand  that  it  should  re 
sort  to  some  other  measure  than  that  which  has  failed  since  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution.  Would  the  states  bear  this  oppression,  and  submit  to  those  exac- 


JOHN   GRANT   CHAPMAN.  543 

tions,  if  they  had  not  surrendered  to  the  Federal  government  all  power  over  du 
ties  and  imposts?  No.  The  tobacco-growing  states  would  unite  and  make  com 
mon  cause,  and  teach  those  governments  that  such  injustice  would  not  be  borne. 
Let  the  representatives  from  the  tobacco-growing  states  unite,  and  insist  upon  a 
lair  protection  to  this  staple  by  the  only  means  in  the  power  of  this  government 
to  afford  it,  and  our  grievances  will  be  redressed. 

The  tobacco  exported  during  the  year  1845  I  have  heretofore  shown 

to  be  147,168  hogsheads,  valued  at $7,469,819 

It  is  taxed,  according  to  the  rate  imposed  upon  the  exports  of  1838, 
at  .  . 59,857,984 

And  must  sell  in  Europe,  exclusive  of  freights,  commissions,  in 
surance,  &c.,  for  '  .  \-  *A  • $67,327,803 

So  that  the  planter  receives  for  making  the  article  about  one  tenth,  and  the 
governments  of  Europe  about  nine  tenths,  of  its  value.  This  system  has  been  too 
long  submitted  to,  and  I  can  never  give  my  assent  to  any  system  affording  pro 
tection  to  any  other  interest,  or  to  any  diminished  rate  of  duties  from  the  highest 
standard  that  can  be  obtained,  unless  this  production  is  also  to  be  benefited  by 
the  change.  I  "would  make  our  duties  countervailing  and  discriminating,  and 
dependent  upon  the  continuance  of  their  duties  upon  this  American  staple.  The 
exchange  of  productions  should  be  upon  the  basis  of  reciprocity. 

"  Sir,  no  benefit  may  result  to  this  great  interest  of  the  country  at  this  time  from 
the  action  which  I  seek  to  have  instituted  upon  this  subject.  For  fifteen  years 
has  the  subject  of  benefiting  the  tobacco  interest  been  before  the  government.  It 
has  enlisted  commanding  talents  and  faithful  service.  Negotiation  has  been  em 
ployed  between  this  government  and  the  different  governments  of  Europe  upon 
the  subject.  Charges,  ministers  resident  and  plenipotentiary,  and  special  agents, 
have  been  employed  and  accredited  to  all  the  governments  with  whom  we  de 
sired  to  treat  on  this  subject.  Yet  nothing  has  been  accomplished.  The  restric 
tions,  regies,  and  monopolies  remain  unrepealed,  unmodified,  still  in  force ;  and 
the  staple,  heretofore  so  important  in  the  foreign  exchanges  of  the  country,  and 
making  up  so  large  an  item  in  its  commerce,  has  been  reduced  lower  and  lower 
in  price,  until  the  planter,  in  despair,  must  abandon  its  culture,  and  live  upon  the 
recollection  of  that  independence  which  a  fair  price  for  its  production  afforded 
him.  Nothing,  we  have  seen,  has  been  accomplished  by  negotiation,  and  noth 
ing  I  fear  will  be ;  and  we  need  no  longer  suffer  ourselves  to  be  flattered  by  de 
lusive  hope,  or  indulge  expectations  which  are  never  to  be  realized.  But,  sir, 
we  will  not  lose  sight  of  our  rights  ;  we  will  not  forget  that  this  interest  is  as  much 
entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  government  as  any  other;  and,  as  long  as  I  have 
the  honor  of  representing  that  interest  on  this  floor,  I  shall,  on  all  proper  occasions, 
press  the  subject  on  the  attention  of  the  government,  and  claim  the  protection  to 
this  interest  which  has  been  extended  to  others. 

"  The  day  is  not  distant,  sir,  when  the  whole  tariff  and  commercial  policy  of 
the  world  will  undergo  a  change.  A  revolution  in  the  international  commercial 
regulations  of  the  world  must  and  will  take  place  before  many  years  shall  have 
elapsed,  and  then  will  be  the  time  for  this  interest,  long  neglected  and  oppress 
ed,  to  be  placed  in  the  commercial  system,  which  must  be  established  upon 
grounds  of  reciprocal  advantage.  It  will  only  require  concert  of  action  upon  the 
part  of  those  representing  the  tobacco  interest  in  the  different  states,  and  a  firm 
ness  of  purpose  to  insist  upon  adequate  protection,  and  we  shall  obtain  it.  It  is 
the  fault  of  our  government  that  those  enormous  exactions  and  revenues  are  levied 
upon  the  productions  of  the  tobacco-planter ;  and  more  than  one  opportunity  has 
been  suffered  to  pass  without  resorting  to  such  remedy  as  would  have  secured  a 


544  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

due  respect  to  this  interest,  and  placed  it  upon  terms  of  reciprocity.  It  might 
have  been  done  in  1833,  when  the  tariff  policy  of  the  government  underwent  an  en 
tire  change ;  and  so,  likewise,  in  1842,  when  protection  was  extended  to  several  of 
the  great  interests  of  the  country,  no  one  of  them  equal  to  this,  or  so  much  needing 
the  protection  of  the  government.  But,  sir,  as  I  have  before  remarked,  another 
occasion  is  likely  again  to  occur.  The  commercial  system  of  England,  and  of  con 
tinental  Europe  interwoven  with  it  and  dependent  upon  it,  must  be  reconstruct 
ed.  The  march  of  improvement  in  this  country,  the  advance  of  the  arts,  the  per 
fection  iu  machinery,  the  labor-saving  and  bread-producing  process  which  is  so 
rapidly  advancing,  will  force  the  governments  of  Europe  into  a  new  policy,  and 
then  may  we  demand  that  they  shall  support  their  governments  upon  other  reve 
nues  than  those  which  are  levied  upon  the  labor  of  the  tobacco-planter." 

Among  the  more  local  measures  introduced  by  him  was  a 
bill  to  provide  a  free  bridge  across  the  eastern  branch  of  the 
Potomac,  which,  however,  was  defeated. 

He  is  now  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  of  which  committee  he  was  also  a  member  during  the 
last  Congress,  The  people  of  the  district  know  him  as  a  lib 
eral  and  enlightened  friend  to  its  interests  and  prosperity. 

He  was  married,  at  an  early  age,  in  1821,  to  Susan  Chap 
man,  daughter  of  George  Chapman,  of  Fauquier  county,  Vir 
ginia.  By  this  marriage  there  have  been  eleven  children,  of 
whom  six  are  dead. 

Mr.  Chapman  is  in  full  communion  with  the  Episcopal 
Church,  in  which  faith  he  was  brought  up.  In  1824  he  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  vestry  of  his  parish,  and  has  con 
tinued  in  that  relation  to  the  Church  to  the  present  time.  He 
is,  however,  no  sectarian.  He  is  entirely  catholic  in  his  opin 
ions.  He  believes  that  there  is  but  one  Church  on  earth  ;  that 
it  embraces  all  true  believers  of  every  denomination ;  and  that 
there  is  but  one  Church  above,  which  will  embrace  all  those 
whose  life  and  conversation  shall  on  earth  "adorn  the  doctrine 
of  God  our  Savior  in  all  things."  In  the  words  of  St.  Augus 
tine,  he  believes  that  the  Church  is  the  "  people  of -God  through 
out  the  world." 

Among  his  own  people,  no  man  has  secured  to  himself  more 
general  respect  and  attachment.  "If,"  says  one  of  them, 
"  there  is  any  man  who  possesses  a  higher  sense  of  honor,  more 
of  the  milk  of  human  kindness,  or  who  is  more  keenly  alive  to 
the  misfortunes  of  his  fellow-men,  I  know  him  not."  Although 
he  has  had  some  agency  in  almost  every  important  state  meas 
ure  since  1824,  and  although  so  long  in  its  government,  yet  his 
life  has  been  quiet  and  unobtrusive,  since  he  has  preferred  to 


JOHN    GRANT   CHAPMAN.  545 

do  his  duty,  and  make  those  around  him  happy,  rather  than  to 
seek  applause  or  distinction.  Not  a  day  passes  at  home  with 
out  his  being  called  upon  for  advice  on  matters  of  business  by 
those  whose  opportunities  have  been  more  limited  than  his  own ; 
and,  not  being  now  engaged  in  his  profession,  many  persons 
seek  his  advice  and  professional  services  from  motives  of  econ 
omy.  His  own  tastes  have  never  led  him  to  "  money-making," 
as  it  is  termed ;  and  it  is  said  that,  although  himself  prudent 
in  his  habits,  he  has  paid  more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars  as 
surety  for  friends  who  had  become  embarrassed  in  their  circum 
stances. 

VOL.  I.— M  M 


BRODHEAD,   RICHARD, 


J.S  the  representative  of  the  tenth  Congressional  District  of 
Pennsylvania,  generally  known  as  the  "  Old  Northampton" 
District.  He  is  a  native  of  Pike  county,  in  that  district,  and 
now  resides  in  E  as  ton,  the  county  town  of  Northampton.  His 
ancestor,  Daniel  Brodhead,  came  to  this  country  from  En 
gland  in  the  year  1664,  and  held  the  rank  of  captain  under 
Colonel  Richard  Nichols  in  the  expedition  against  New  Amster 
dam.  After  the  reduction  of  that  place,  he  was  appointed  by 
Colonel  Nichols  captain-general  of  the  Esopus,  on  the  Hudson. 
He  settled  permanently  on  that  river.  In  1735,  a  grandson  of 
his,  also  called  Daniel,  was  the  pioneer  of  the  body  of  emigrants 
who  left  the  Hudson  and  settled  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Riv 
er  Delaware.  Daniel,  however,  with  one  or  two  others,  voy 
aged  down  the  river  to  the  creek  now  called  Brodhead's  Creek, 
near  the  spot  on  which  Stroudsburg  stands,  and  settled  there. 
From  that  time  the  name  of  Brodhead  has  been  a  promi 
nent  one  in  the  state.  Richard  Brodhead,  a  grandson  of  the 
Daniel  Brodhead  named  above,  and  father  of  the  present  mem 
ber,  held  many  public  stations,  both  by  appointment  and  by  the 
suffrages  of  the  people.  His  son,  when  quite  young,  removed 
to  Easton,  and  read  law  in  the  office  and  under  the  direction 
of  James  M.  Porter.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1833,  and 
very  soon  acquired  a  good  position  and  a  lucrative  practice.  In 
1838,  having  been  placed  in  nomination  by  the  Democratic 
party,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  from 
Northampton  county.  The  session  of  that  Legislature  opened 
with  the  political  turmoil  familiarly  known  as  the  "  Buckshot 
War,"  in  which  he  bore  a  prominent  part  on  the  Democratic 
side. 

546 


RICHARD   BRODHEAD.  547 

Mr.  Brodhead  was  twice  re-elected  to  the  same  place,  served 
on  the  most  important  committees,  of  some  of  which  he  was  at 
the  head,  and  took  an  active  and  leading  part  in  the  business 
and  debates  of  the  House.  During  his  third  and  last  term  he 
was  the  candidate  of  the  Democratic  party  for  speaker,  and  re 
ceived  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Democratic  members.  The 
Harrison  campaign,  however,  had  resulted  in  the  return  of  a 
majority  of  Whigs,  yet  Mr.  Brodhead  was  defeated  only  by 
one  vote.  The  next  step  in  his  public  career  was  his  election, 
without  opposition,  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  of  the  twenty-eighth  Congress.  He  has,  since  then,  been 
regularly  re-elected. 

Though  a  firm  adherent  of  the  principles  and  general  meas 
ures  of  the  Democratic  party — in  whose  behalf  no  man  has 
struggled  with  more  zeal  or  consistency — he  has  opposed  the 
policy  of  the  administration  of  Mr.  Polk  so  far  as  it  tended  to 
the  overthrow  of  that  protective  principle  with  which  the  inter 
ests  of  his  state  are  so  closely  interwoven.  His  defense  of  that 
principle,  as  well  on  the  grounds  of  constitutional  authority  as 
of  sound  policy,  are  thus  summed  up  by  himself  in  a  speech  in 
the  House : 

"  1.  The  revenues  necessary  to  an  economical  and  efficient 
administration  of  the  government,  it  is  constitutional,  expedi 
ent,  and  just  to  provide  by  impost  duties  upon  foreign  imports. 

"  2.  The  Constitution,  by  its  terms  (before  quoted),  the  rea 
sons  which  induced  the  call  of  the  Convention  to  adopt  it,  its  co- 
temporaneous  exposition,  and  the  uniform  practice  of  the  gov 
ernment  under  it,  admits  of  the  imposition  of  discriminating 
duties. 

"  3.  In  the  adjustment  of  tariff  laws,  I  would  impose  such 
duties  upon  the  importation  of  luxuries  as  would  produce  the 
most  revenue,  thereby  casting  as  much  of  the  burden  of  sup 
porting  the  government  upon  the  rich  as  possible. 

"4.  The  prime  necessaries  of  life  (which  we  do  not  produce 
in  this  country,  such  as  tea  and  coffee)  should  be  admitted  free  of 
duty.  The  free  list  in  this  regard  should  be  as  large  as  possible* 

"  5.  Upon  foreign  products  and  manufactures,  which  are  rivals 
of,  and  come  in  competition  with  our  own,  I  would  impose  such 
duties  as  would  best  protect  American  labor  and  products  against 
foreign  labor  and  products. 


548  HISTORY   OP   CONGRESS. 

"  6.  Upon  rival  products  of  our  own,  which  are  indispensable 
in  time  of  war,  I  would  impose  a  duty  with  a  view  to  protec 
tion  alone,  without  regard  to  revenue. 

"7.  No  tariff  law  can  be  effective,  either  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  the  government  with  revenue  or  protecting  Ameri 
can  industry,  with  an  unsound,  inflated  paper  currency.  The 
history  of  prices,  imports,  exports,  and  banking  in  1816, 17, 18r 
and  1835,  36,  37,  clearly  proves  this  position." 

During  his  term  of  service  he  has  exerted  himself  strenuous 
ly  toward  the  erection  of  national  foundries,  and  also  for  a  pro 
curement  of  a  diminution  of  the  burden  of  tonnage  duties  on 
canal  boats.  The  bill  which  he  reported  for  that  purpose,  with 
some  modifications,  became  a  law.  The  boating  and  coal  in 
terests  of  Pennsylvania  alone  were  thus  relieved  from  an  oner 
ous  tax  amounting  annually  to  many  thousands  of  dollars. 

He  was  the  introducer,  also,  of  the  project,  subsequently  com 
pleted  by  the  War  Department,  of  a  compilation  of  all  the  pen 
sion  laws  in  force ;  the  forms  necessary  to  be  adopted  in  appli 
cations  for  pensions ;  and  the  construction  placed  upon  those 
laws  by  the  department  and  the  attorney  general.  This  is  a 
very  valuable  document,  and,  in  the  present  complex  state  of 
our  pension  laws,  was  greatly  needed.  As  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Revolutionary  Pensions,  he  had  ample  opportu 
nities  of  observing  the  necessity  and  the  value  of  such  a  com 
pendium. 

He  has  voted  in  favor  of  all  appropriations  for  a  vigorous  pros 
ecution  of  hostilities  against  Mexico,  on  the  ground  that  the 
war  is  just  and  necessary.  At  a  previous  period  he  had  voted 
for  every  measure  directed  to  the  maintenance  of  our  claim  to 
the  whole  of  the  Oregon  Territory ;  and  he  acquiesced  in  its 
abandonment  only  when  compelled  to  do  so  by  the  treaty-mak 
ing  power,  which,  he  said,  "  had  given  up  territory  enough  to 
make  three  or  four  states."  "It  is  said,"  he  added,  "that  the 
Oregon  Question  was  settled  in  an  honorable  way — that  is,  by 
claiming  the  whole  ;  and,  when  the  roar  of  the  British  lion  was 
heard,  giving  up  half." 

He  separated  from  the  great  mass  of  the  Northern  democ 
racy  on  the  question  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  for  reasons  set 
forth  in  a  speech  delivered  on  the  9th  of  February,  1847,  on 
the  bill  commonly  called  the  "  Three  Million  Bill."  We  shall 


RICHARD   BRODHEAD.  549 

present  these  reasons,  as  published  under  his  own  revision,  be 
cause  we  do  not  feel  at  liberty,  by  abridging  them,  to  deprive 
him  of  any  benefit  he  may  claim  from  his  own  vindication  of 
his  course. 

In  the  same  speech,  in  a  previous  part,  he  took  up  the  ques 
tion  itself  (of  territorial  acquisition),  and  thus  met  it : 

"  What  is  the  object  of  this  war  ?  I  understand  it  to  be  for  the  purpose  of  pro 
viding  for  our  future  peace  and  safety  by  punishing  an  aggressor,  and  to  compel 
Mexico  to  settle  questions  in  dispute  in  regard  to  limits.  It  looks  to  peace  as  the 
result.  The  President  says,  in  his  message,  that  it  is  not  a  war  for  conquest ;  but 
still,  sir,  I  am  obliged  to  admit  that  the  President  intimates  that  indemnity  in  land 
ought  to  be  asked.  I  regret,  sir,  that  the  President  has  thought  it  his  duty  to  say 
any  thing  from  which  an  inference  can  be  drawn  that  this  war  will  be  prosecut 
ed  with  a  view  to  conquest.  For  myself,  I  confess  that  I  never  desire  to  see  the 
functions  of  any  of  the  departments  of  this  government  exerted  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  land  by  force.  It  is  contrary  to  the  genius  of  our  institutions  and  the 
apirit  of  our  government.  I  deny  that  the  further  extension  of  our  domain  at  this 
time  is  necessary  to  the  happiness  of  our  people,  or  to  our  glory  as  a  nation. 
The  distinguished  gentleman  from  Georgia  (Mr.  Jones)  said  in  his  speech  on  the 
Oregon  Question,  delivered  in  this  House  on  the  15th  of  January,  1846 :  '  I  hope 
not  to  live  to  see  the  day  when  the  government  of  the  United  States  will  be  ex 
tended  by  conquest.'  But  where  do  gentlemen,  who  contend  that  we  ought  to 
seize  and  hold  permanently  the  provinces  of  Mexico,  find  the  power  in  the  Con 
stitution  to  do  it  ?  It  is  said,  in  the  clause  which  authorizes  Congress  to  declare 
war.  I  admit  that  under  that  clause  we  would  have  a  right  to  overrun  and  hold 
military  possession  of  the  whole  or  any  portion  of  Mexico,  but  that  is  a  very  dif 
ferent  thing  from  annexing  it  to  the  United  States,  and  incorporating  the  Mexican 
people  with  our  own.  If  we  incorporate  them,  we  must  either  make  them  slaves 
or  citizens ;  the  former  we  have  not  the  power  to  do,  and  it  would  be  highly  in 
expedient  to  do  either.  This  government  should  never  be  the  instrument  of  un 
yoking,  or  becoming  the  sanctuary  of  the  refugee  provinces  of  other  nations.  We 
can  not  make  citizens  by  subjugation;  and  if  we  could,  it  would  not  be  right; 
they  would  be  untrained  in  the  ways  of  republicanism.  We  can  not  say  as  the 
French  said  when  they  undertook  to  conquer  all  Europe. :  '  Come,  be  brethren 
of  ours,  or  we  will  cut  your  throats.'  Our  government  is  founded  on  the  consent 
of  the  governed,  and  depends  for  its  existence  upon  the  virtue  and  intelligence 
of  the  people.  What  kind  of  consent  could  we  obtain  from  the  Mexicans,  and 
what  kind  of  virtue  and  intelligence  would  they  be  able  to  exercise  in. discharg 
ing  the  duties  which  our  form  of  government  would  devolve  upon  them.  But  it 
is  said  we  will  not  get  Mexican  people ;  but  I  say  we  will,  to  the  amount  of  ten 
or  twenty  thousand,  at  least,  if  we  only  take  New  Mexico  and  California.  It  is 
admitted  that  there  is  no  express  grant  of  power  to  be  found  in  the  Constitution 
to  any  department  of  this  government  to  obtain  territory  by  conquest ;  and  I  un 
dertake  to  say  that  it  can  not  be  properly  inferred  from  the  war  clause,  or  any 
other.  The  Democratic  party  have  ever  been  opposed  to  the  exercise  of  con 
structive  powers.  Jefferson  said,  in  one  of  his  published  letters,  '  Our  peculiar 
security  is  in  the  possession  of  a  written  Constitution.  Let  its  not  make  it  a  blank 
paper  by  construction.1  Gentlemen  who  hold  offices  under  the  general  government 
often  seem  to  forget  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  state  sovereignty,  and  that  the 
etates  or  the  people  have  retained  all  the  power  not  expressly  granted  in  the 
Constitution  to  the  Federal  government.  We  have  been  told  by  all  the  best 


550  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

statesmen  in  this  country,  that  where  a  power  is  doubtful  and  only  implied,  wo 
should  decline  to  exercise  it,  except  in  cases  of  the  most  urgent  necessity.  I  ob 
ject  to  these  experiments  with  the  powers  of  our  government.  It  is  true,  our 
good  ship  of  state  has  rode  out  many  storms ;  but,  still,  we  should  remember  the 
fate  of  other  republics. 

"  '  A  thousand  years  scarce  serve  to  form  a  state : 
An  hour  may  lay  it  in  the  dust.' 

"  But  it  is  said,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  the  expenses  of  this  war  should  be  paid  by 
Mexico,  and  that,  as  she  can  not  do  it  in  money,  we  should  take  it  in  land.  I  ad 
mit  there  is  plausibility  in  the  assertion,  and  that  it  addresses  itself  to  the  pride  as 
well  as  the  cupidity  of  our  people;  but  I  take  ground  against  it  upon  principle; 
and  besides,  if  we  make  this  idea  of  the  acquisition  of  territory  so  prominent,  it 
will  prolong  the  war  for  years,  which  will  cost  this  government  more  in  blood 
and  treasure  than  the  whole  of  Mexico  is  worth.  We  must  remember  that  if 
this  war  is  prosecuted  much  longer,  we  must  come  to  direct  taxation,  and  that 
•will  not  be  very  agreeable  when  we  consider  the  number  of  tax  collectors  we 
have  already  among  the  people  for  state  and  county  purposes.  But  when  did  this 
government  assert  the  doctrine  before  that  the  expenses  of  a  war  must  be  paid  ? 
Did  we  assert  it  when  we  were  at  war  with  Great  Britain  ?  The  last  war  cost 
us  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  dollars.  Yes,  our  Capitol  itself  was  burned ; 
and  did  we  refuse  to  make  peace  until  we  were  paid  in  money,  or  the  provinces 
of  Canada  ceded  to  us  ?  No,  sir,  no !  and  yet  no  person  will  say  at  this  day  that 
we  did  not  gain  much  by  it,  and  that  peace  was  not  properly  made.  We  taught 
old  England,  as  well  as  all  other  nations,  that  our  flag,  and  the  persons  and  prop 
erty  of  our  citizens,  must  be  respected,  or  we  would  punish  the  aggressors,  cost 
•what  it  might.  Where  do  we  find  examples  to  justify  the  doctrine  that  the  ex 
penses  of  a  war  must  be  paid  by  the  enemy  ?  The  example  is  to  be  found  in  tho 
practice  of  England  whenever  she  comes  to  blows  with  a  weak  and  defenseless 
nation,  and  that  practice  has  been  nowhere  so  loudly  condemned  as  in  this  coun 
try.  Who  does  not  recollect  the  feelings  of  indignation  which  prevailed  in  this 
country  when  England  made  the  poor  Chinese  pay  the  expenses  of  a  war,  and 
tribute  beside  ?  It  is  the  doctrine  of  the  strong  over  the  weak." 

He  then  addresses  himself  to  the  question  of  slavery : 

"  Having  said  thus  much  in  regard  to  the  Mexican  war,  and  in  support  of  the 
policy  of  the  administration,  I  come,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  consider  the  amendment 
proposed  to  the  bill  under  consideration  by  my  honorable  colleague  (Mr.  Wilmot). 
The  bill  proposes  to  appropriate  $3.000,000,  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  ex 
ecutive,  to  be  used  by  him  in  concluding  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico ;  and  my 
respected  colleague,  acting  upon  the  belief  that  the  President  would  use  the  money 
to  acquire  territory,  proposes  to  amend  the  same  by  inserting  a  clause  that  the 
treaty  shall  contain  a  provision  against  slavery  in  any  territory  to  be  acquired 
thereby.  Two  questions  present  themselves  at  once : 

"  1.  Has  Congress  the  power  to  adopt  the  amendment  in  any  shape  ?  and, 

"  2.  If  it  has,  is  it  expedient  to  do  it  at  this  time  and  in  connection  with  this  bill  ? 

"  If  we  have  not  the  power,  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  will  be  a  nullity  if 
'  adopted.  Every  member,  when  he  enters  this  hall,  takes  an  oath  to  support  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  That  is  the  whole  of  the  oath,  and  it  is  the  one 
I  took.  Therefore,  when  I  am  called  upon  to  do  an  act  in  my  legislative  capacity, 
I  look  for  the  authority  to  do  it  in  the  Constitution,  for  that  great  charter  of  our 
liberties  enumerates  the  powers  granted  to  Congress.  Every  intelligent  person, 
and  especially  every  Democrat,  will  agree  that  we  should  not  undertake  to  do 


RICHARD   BRODIIEAD.  551 

any  thing  for  which  a  warrant  can  not  be  found  in  that  sacred  instrument ;  for  if 
we  do,  there  will  be  an  end  to  state  sovereignty  and  the  liberties  of  the  people. 
Now  I  want  gentlemen  who  are  so  vehement  in  suppoit  of  this  amendment  to 
point  to  the  clause  in  the  Constitution  which  gives  Congress  power  to  legislate  in 
regard  to  territories  not  yet  belonging  to  the  United  States,  or  to  advise  the  treaty- 
making  power.  They  might  much  rather  do  that  than  to  declaim  in  the  cant 
phrases  of  the  Abolitionists  about  the  evils  of  slavery,  which  we  all  admit  and 
deplore.  The  only  clause  which  I  can  find  in  the  Constitution  which  gives  pow 
er  to  Congress  upon  subjects  like  the  one  under  consideration,  is  as  follows :  '  The 
Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of,  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regula 
tions  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property  BELONGING  to  the  United  States.' 
Therefore,  until  the  territory  is  acquired,  the  jurisdiction  of  Congress  does  not  at 
tach.  The  word  '  belonging,'  no  doubt,  was  inserted  for  the  purpose  of  prevent 
ing  Congress  from  usurping  the  power  granted  to  the  President  and  Senate  to 
make  treaties.  The  framers  of  the  Constitution  no  doubt  supposed,  when  they 
inserted  the  word  '  belonging,'  that  there  would  be  members  of  Congress  who 
would  consider  it  their  duty  not  only  to  control  the  President,  but  the  Senate.  If 
we  have  a  right  to  advise  the  President  and  Senate  in  the  manner  proposed  by 
the  amendment,  we  would  have  a  right  to  advise  in  regard  to  all  treaties.  Now 
suppose  we  do  what  I  think  the  people  and  the  Constitution  have  not  authorized, 
and  insert  this  amendment,  and  a  treaty  should  be  made  by  the  President  and 
ratified  by  the  Senate  in  disregard  of  it ;  would  not  such  treaty  be  binding  ?  Un 
doubtedly  ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  clearly  proved  that  if  we  adopt  it,  it  will  be  a  nul 
lity.  It  is  a  fundamental  principle  that  the  powers  of  the  different  departments 
of  the  government  shall  not  be  blended.  It  is  said,  however,  that  we  should 
adopt  it  for  its  moral  effects,  and  that  all  who  vote  against  it  will  be  set  down  as 
voting  in  favor  of  slavery ;  that  all  who  vote  against  it  place  themselves  in  a  situ 
ation  where  they  can  be  misrepresented.  Sir,  when  I  fear  to  vote  right  because 
my  vote  may  seem  wrong,  and  my  motives  misrepresented,  I  will  quit  my  seat  in 
this  hall,  for  I  would  be  unworthy  of  a  place  in  it.  The  course  of  true  policy  is 
the  course  of  true  duty,  and  therefore  I  will  vote  as  I  think  right,  and  run  the 
risk  of  being  misunderstood.  But,  to  show  the  absurdity  of  our  adopting  meas 
ures  merely  for  their  moral  effect,  suppose  that  my  colleague  should  offer  resolu 
tions  in  favor  of  the  Christian  religion  and  in  favor  of  a  republican  form  of  govern 
ment  ;  would  not  every  member  declare  them  out  of  time  and  out  of  place  (as  my 
colleague,  Mr.  C.  J.  Ingersoll,  declared  this  slavery  amendment),  and  feel  bound 
to  vote  against  them  ?  And  then  gentlemen  would  get  up  and  say,  '  Why,  you 
are  opposed  to  the  Christian  religion  and  a  republican  form  of  government !'  Do 
not  these  suggestions  clearly  show  the  propriety  of  acting  within  the  prescribed 
limits  of  the  Constitution  ?  We  are  here,  not  in  town  meeting,  but  in  a  grave  con 
stitutional  assembly,  with  limited  and  prescribed  powers. 

"  But  there  is  a  want  of  power  in  another  regard.  It  undertakes  to  bind  the 
future  action  of  Congress.  It  says,  '  There  shall  be  no  slavery  in  any  territory 
which  shall  hereafter  be  acquired  by,  or  annexed  to  the  United  States.'  Suppose 
we  were  to  pass  a  law,  and  say  in  it  that  it  should  not  be  repealed ;  I  would  like 
to  know  whether  we  would  not  subject  ourselves  to  the  ridicule  of  the  world  ? 

"  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  as  to  the  expediency  of  this  measure.  What  are  the  im 
perative  reasons  upon  the  score  of  expediency  which  should  induce  this  Congress 
to  exercise  doubtful  powers,  and  legislate  in  regard  to  territory,  the  title  of  which 
we  have  not  yet  got,  and  can  not  get  except  by  treaty  ?  There  are  none  which 
have  any  foundation  in  fact,  and  many  against  it. 

41  If  we  adopt  the  amendment,  we  virtually  proclaim  to  the  world  that  this  is 
a  war  for  conquest,  and  that  we  are  so  greedy  for  territory  that  we  prescribe  rales 


552  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

for  its  government  before  we  have  acquired  the  title.  We  subject  ourselves  to 
ridicule  by  counting  the  spoils  before  the  field  is  won. 

"  If  territory  is  acquired  by  treaty,  it  will,  of  course,  be  free ;  and,  therefore,  if 
slaves  are  taken  into  it,  they  will  be  entitled  to  their  freedom  upon  the  great  prin 
ciple  that  free  territory  makes  free  men,  and  free  ships  free  goods. 

"  Slavery  can  only  exist  by  positive  law ;  and,  therefore,  as  soon  as  a  slave  is 
taken  to  reside  permanently  in  a  free  state  or  territory,  he  is  a  free  man.  This  is 
one  of  the  great  principles  of  the  common  law,  recognized  by  the  courts  of  En 
gland  as  well  as  of  the  United  States.  My  Whig  friend  and  colleague  (Mr.  Pol 
lock)  admitted  the  correctness  of  this  doctrine  in  his  speech  the  other  day.  He 
correctly  said,  '  Congress  having  no  power  to  establish,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
having  exclusive  jurisdiction  over  the  territories,  it  follows  that  slavery  can  have 
no  legal  existence  in  a  territory,  with  or  without  the  action  of  Congress.  The 
power,  therefore,  to  prohibit,  is  nugatory,  or,  rather,  no  necessity  exists  for  its  exer 
cise.'  This  admission,  it  seems  to  me,  yields  the  main  point  in  the  controversy. 
If  the  territory  will  be  free  when  it  is  annexed,  and  Congress  has  no  power  to 
make  it  slave,  where  is  the  necessity  for  the  adoption  of  the  amendment  ?  If  it 
should  ever  become  a  state,  Congress  would  have  no  jurisdiction  over  it  after  it 
should  be  admitted  into  the  Union.  Pennsylvania  would  have  a  perfect  right  to 
establish  slavery  to-morrow  if  she  chose  to  do  it.  At  the  close  of  the  last  session 
of  Congress,  the  venerable  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  (Mr.  Adams)  express 
ed  views  similar  to  those  I  entertain.  He  said,  '  There  are  no  slaves  in  Califor 
nia;  slavery  has  been  abolished  there;  and  if  we  were  to  make  peace,  and  in 
that  peace  to  acquire  California,  there  could  be  no  law  of  slavery  established 
there,  unless  it  was  made  an  article  of  the  treaty  itself.' 

"  No  one  has  said,  and  no  sensible  man  supposes,  that  we  will  ever  get  more 
than  New  Mexico  and  California ;  and  most  of  these  provinces  are  above  thirty-six 
degrees  thirty  minutes — the  line  of  the  Missouri  Compromise — above  which,  it  is 
admitted  on  all  hands,  slavery  is  to  be  prohibited.  All  the  Southern  representa 
tives  have  offered,  this  session,  to  extend  that  line  to  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  and  be 
sides,  slave  labor  could  not  be  profitably  employed  in  either  of  those  places. 
Neither  sugar,  rice,  cotton,  nor  tobacco  can  be  profitably  cultivated  there.  The 
truth  is,  that  climate  and  soil  have  more  to  do  with  the  extension  of  slavery  than 
any  thing  else.  No  person  need  fear  that  slaves  will  be  taken  from  the  cotton 
and  rice  fields  of  the  Southern  States  around  Cape  Horn,  or  overland  to  Califor 
nia.  That  country  must  be  the  home  of  a  maritime  people,  and  the  course  of  set 
tlement  must  be  from  the  seaboard  to  the  interior. 

"  The  amendment  is  out  of  time  and  out  of  place — is  a  rider,  and  has  been  a 
firebrand  in  our  midst.  When  we  are  engaged  in  a  foreign  war,  and  we  should 
present  an  undivided  front  to  the  enemy,  this  question  of  slavery,  which  has  al 
ways  been  an  exciting  element  in  our  political  system,  is  thrust  forward,  to  excite 
sectional  jealousies,  distract  our  councils,  and  delay  the  adoption  of  the  measures 
recommended  by  the  President  for  the  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  The 
Whigs  seize  hold  of  it  to  make  political  capital.  Notwithstanding  tens  of  thou 
sands  of  our  people  are  suffering  all  the  hardships  of  a  campaign  in  a  foreign  land, 
at  an  expense,  too,  of  near  two  millions  of  dollars  a  month,  here  we  are,  wasting 
our  time  in  angry  debate  about  negroes  whenever  a  war  or  peace  measure  is 
brought  forward.  All  this  sort  of  uncalled-for  debate  has  been  occasioned  by  my 
colleague's  amendment ;  and  yet  he  says  he  asks  the  '  neutrality  of  this  govern 
ment  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.'  If  that  is  all  he  asks,  I  submit  it  to  the  virtu 
ous  and  intelligent  mind  of  this  House,  and  the  country,  whether  I  have  not  shown 
that  he  should  not  have  brought  forward  the  amendment. 

"  It  is  a  peace-breaker,  and  has  been  seized  hold  of,  as  the  honorable  gentleman 


RICHARD   BRODHEAD.  553 

from  Indiana  (Mr.  Wick)  said  the  other  day,  by  the  Whigs  and  Abolitionists,  to 
bring  the  Democratic  party  into  tribulation,  and  to  embarrass  the  administration 
in  a  proper  prosecution  of  this  war.  It  will  delay,  if  not  defeat,  the  passage  of 
this  bill  in  the  Senate ;  and  if  a  treaty  should  be  formed  as  it  directs,  it  is  well 
known  that  it  can  not  be  ratified,  for  it  takes  two  thirds  of  the  senators  present  to 
do  it,  and  thus  the  war  will  be  prolonged  for  yeai-s  to  come.  This  amendment 
has  produced  so  much  excitement  and  irritation  among  members,  that  they  seem 
to  forget  that  it  is  our  solemn  duty  to  co-operate  with  the  President  in  bringing 
this  war  to  a  speedy  and  successful  termination  at  the  earliest  practicable  moment. 

"Finally,  it  is  not  only  an  abstraction,  which  can  not  possibly  affect  either  the 
character  or  the  interests  of  the  people  of  the  Northern  States,  but  may  do  great 
harm  in  creating  a  geographical  division  of  parties.  When  that  kind  of  division 
takes  place,  this  Union  is  gone,  and  with  it  the  protection  to  persons  and  property 
which  it  affords.  But  what  nation  was  ever  asked  before  to  stipulate  with  a  foreign 
nation  as  to  its  internal  policy  ?  The  amendment  asks  that  the  President  should 
make  it  an  article  in  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico,  that  slavery  shall  not  exist  in 
the  territory  ceded  to  us.  Now,  suppose  that  provision  to  be  inserted  in  the 
treaty ;  we  take  possession  of  the  territory,  and  after  a  while  admit  it  as  a  state : 
would  not  that  state  have  a  right  to  authorize  slavery  without  the  consent  of  the 
general  government  ?  Every  person  who  knows  any  thing  about  our  form  of  gov 
ernment  will  admit  that  it  would.  Hence  we  may  get  into  war  again  with  Mex 
ico  for  a  violation  of  a  treaty-stipulation. 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  my  honorable  colleague,  in  his  speech  yesterday,  talked  a  great 
deal  about/ree  labor,  and  the  rights  of  the  free  labor  of  the  North.  Sir,  at  the  last 
session  I  did  not  think  he  was  such  a  great  advocate  for  the  free  labor  of  the  North. 
He  voted  with  the  warmest  advocates  of  free  trade  in  the  South  upon  the  tariff 
question,  and  was  the  only  representative  upon  this  floor  from  Pennsylvania  who 
did.  Upon  that  memorable  occasion  he  undertook  to  give  my  Democratic  col 
leagues  and  myself,  as  well  as  the  Democratic  party,  some  good  advice.  He  said 
(I  quote  from  the  last  page  of  his  speech),  '  The  sooner,  in  my  judgment,  the  de 
mocracy  of  Pennsylvania  severs  its  alliance  with  Eastern  Federalism  and  the  Whig 
party,  and,  placing  her  interests  upon  high  and  national  grounds,  appeals  to  the 
democracy  of  the  Union  for  liberality  and  support,  the  better  for  those  interests, 
and  far  better  for  her  republican  character.'  Now,  sir,  I  think,  if  he  would  take 
a  little  of  this  advice  to  himself,  it  would  be  serviceable ;  and,  as  he  is  now  not 
only  acting  upon  this  question  with  the  Eastern  Federalists,  but  the  Abolitionists 
besides,  I  hope  they  will  treat  him  better  than  the  Whigs  of  Pennsylvania  did  my 
Democratic  colleagues  and  myself  after  voting  with  them  upon  the  tariff  question, 
in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  many  of  our  own  party. 

"  I  have  thus,  Mr.  Chairman,  briefly  stated  my  objections  to  my  friend  and  col 
league's  celebrated  amendment.  I  will  now  make  some  observations  of  a  gen 
eral  character  upon  the  subject  of  slavery,  in  relation  to  which  so  much  has  been 
said  in  this  debate,  in  order  that  my  position  and  views  may  not  be  misunder 
stood.  First,  however,  permit  me  to  premise,  that  if  we  had  acquired  either 
New  Mexico  or  California,  and  a  bill  was  before  the  House  providing  territorial 
governments  therein,  or  a  bill  was  before  the  House  providing  for  the  admission 
of  either  of  those  provinces  as  states  (the  territory  being  first  acquired  by  treaty), 
I  would  vote  for  a  provision  excluding  slavery.  I  favor  the  principle  contained 
in  the  amendment  of  my  colleague,  and  will  go  for  engrafting  it  upon  the  legisla 
tion  of  the  country,  but  in  the  proper  form,  and  at  the  proper  time  and  place,  and 
when  the  power  to  do  so  can  be  rightfully  exercised. 

"  The  institution  of  slavery  is  upon  us,  and  we  must  make  the  best  of  it,  and 
get  clear  of  it  as  fast  as  we  can.  We  never  can  get  clear  of  it  by  abusing  those 


554  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

in  whose  midst  it  exists ;  for  it  is  a  state  institution.  It  presents  difficulties  of 
fearful  magnitude  to  the  statesman  and  philanthropist.  These  difficulties  present 
themselves  unquestionably  in  a  formidable  shape,  even  upon  the  supposition  that 
slavery,  receding  from  the  central  portions  of  our  republic,  is  to  extend  itself 
southward  into  new  regions.  But  I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  that  this  great 
problem  presents  difficulties  not  less  formidable  upon  a  supposition  that  a  teeming 
slave  population,  multiplying  in  a  fearful  ratio  of  rapidity,  is  to  be  coerced  and 
concentrated  by  Federal  legislation  within  the  limits  of  the  present  slave  states. 
Yet  one  of  these  evils  mvst  be  met,.  For  myself,  I  confess  some  feeling  of  relief 
when  I  see  a  prospect  that  slavery  may  recede  from  our  midst,  and  extend  itself 
toward  the  southern  portions  of  our  Union,  and  finally  escape  from  it  in  a  region 
still  further  south,  where  the  negro,  in  a  congenial  climate,  may  find  himself  in 
contact  with  a  mixed  race,  accustomed,  in  some  degree,  to  free  institutions,  and 
not  dissevered  from  him  by  the  iron  barriers  of  lineage  and  of  color.  In  this  view 
I  am,  perhaps,  more  willing  than  I  might  otherwise  be  to  invoke  the  entire,  real, 
and  sincere  '  neutrality'  of  the  Federal  government  upon  the  subject. 

"After  our  patriotic  ancestors  had  achieved  our  independence,  and  had  assem 
bled  iu  Convention,  fresh  from  the  battle-fields  of  the  Revolution,  for  the  purpose 
of  forming  our  present  Constitution,  negro  slavery  was  the  apple  of  discord,  and 
came  near  causing  that  august  and  patriotic  convention  to  separate  without  form 
ing  our  present  Union.  It  was  upon  that  memorable  occasion  that  the  great  and 
good  Franklin  recommended  prayers  that  wisdom  might  be  given  to  them  from 
on  high.  The  consequence  was,  that  moderate  and  pacific  councils  prevailed,  a 
compromise  took  place,  and  the  present  Union  was  the  result.  To  preserve  that 
Union,  the  same  spirit  must  guide  the  deliberations  of  Congress  upon  the  subject. 
At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  our  Constitution,  slavery  was  authorized  by  law 
in  all  the  states.  All  had  been  engaged  in  importing  slaves  into  the  country  :  the 
South  got  far  the  most,  because  the  soil  and  climate  of  that  region  were  best  suit 
ed  for  slave  labor.  Northern  people  engaged  in  taking  them  there,  for  it  was  a 
profitable  business.  All,  therefore,  are  involved  in  the  guilt,  if  guilt  it  be.  We 
now  have  near  3,000,000  of  slave  population,  and  the  increase  is  very  great,  for  it 
is  a  law  of  human  population  that  the  oppressed  always  increase  faster  than  their 
oppressors.  We  have  the  difficult  problem  of  two  races  coexisting  under  the 
same  Constitution  and  inhabiting  the  same  country.  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1820,  when 
speaking  of  the  embarrassing  question,  said,  '  We  have  got  the  trolf  by  the  ears, 
and  can  neither  hold  nor  let  him  go  with  safety.1  To  free  the  negroes  of  the 
Southern  States  at  once  would  be  the  greatest  calamity  which  could  happen  to 
the  whites,  as  well  as  the  blacks.  Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  them 
would  go  to  the  free  states,  particularly  to  Pennsylvania.  Our  jails  and  alms- 
houses  would  not  hold  the  poor  and  vicious,  and  the  poor  laboring  freemen  and 
women  would  be  without  employment,  for  the  blacks  would  work  cheaper  and 
live  on  less.  Besides,  it  would  be  degrading  for  our  free  people  to  labor  with 
them.  And  if  they  did  get  into  the  free  states,  how  much  better  off  would  be 
their  condition  ?  We  can  not  permit  them  to  vote  and  sit  in  the  jury-box ;  we 
can  not  admit  them  to  terms  of  political  and  social  equality :  and  what  is  freedom 
worth  without  those  privileges  ?  The  truth  is,  they  are  a  nuisance,  whether  slave 
or  free;  and  yet  they  are  a  part  of  the  human  family — have  the  human  form,  the 
human  voice,  and  souls  to  save.  There  is  a  great  deal  too  much  fanaticism,  as 
well  in  the  North  as  the  South,  upon  the  subject  of  these  negroes.  Old  Pennsyl 
vania  (God  bless  her!  for  it  was  there  where  my  cradle  was  rocked,  and  where 
my  coffin  shall  be  buried),  occupying  an  important  position  between  the  dividing 
interests  of  the  North  and  the  South,  always  moderate  in  pretense  and  in  council, 
but  greatly  in  demand  when  power,  either  in  intellect  or  in  arms,  is  required, 


RICHARD   BRODHEAD.  555 

must,  with  honest  steadiness  of  purpose,  restrain  the  fanaticism  of  both,  and  thus 
prevent  the  North  and  the  South  from  coming  to  blows,  and  thereby  causing  a 
dismemberment  of  this  now  happy  Union.  This  Union  I  hold  to  be  of  more  value 
than  the  freedom  of  all  the  negroes  that  ever  lived  in  it.  And  yet  we  hear  gen 
tlemen,  whenever  this  slavery  question  is  brought  forward,  calculating  the  Un 
ion's  value  and  the  Constitution's  obligation.  They  ought  to  remember  that  they 

" '  but  teach  bloody  instructions, 
Which  may  return  to  plague  the  inventors.' 

"  This  constant  talk  about  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  has  a  tendency  to  famil 
iarize  the  public  mind  with  the  idea,  and  lead  people  to  believe  that  such  an 
event  is  possible.  Sir,  this  Union  should  be  broken  only  with  the  last  pulsation 
of  a  nation's  heart." 

Mr.  Brodhead  is  now  about  thirty -four  years  of  age,  tall  and 
athletic — complexion  dark — hair  black.  He  is  represented  as 
enjoying  the  confidence  of  his  constituents,  secured  to  him  by 
watchful  attention  to  their  rights  and  interests  during  a  public 
service  of  many  years'  duration. 


HUDSON,   CHARLES, 


M.S  the  only  son  of  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Marlborough,  Massachusetts,  November  14th, 
1795.  His  father  having  himself  enjoyed  little  or  no  opportuni 
ty  for  education,  neglected  in  early  years  that  of  his  son,  who, 
at  the  age  of  twelve,  went  to  live  with  a  respectable  farmer  in 
his  native  town,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm  till  he  was  twen 
ty-one  years  old.  During  this  period  his  only  means  of  educa 
tion  was  that  afforded  by  the  common  district  school,  which  he 
attended  from  two  to  three  months  in  the  winter.  He  was, 
however,  fond  of  books,  and,  after  the  labors  of  the  day  were 
over,  would  give  his  time  to  reading.  By  these  means,  and  a 
single  quarter  at  a  neighboring  academy,  he  qualified  himself  for 
school-teaching,  which  occupation  he  followed  in  the  winter 
season  with  good  success.  After  he  arrived  at  the  age  of  twen 
ty-one,  he  hired  out  as  a  laborer  on  a  farm  for  two  seasons, 
teaching  in  the  winter.  He  had  for  some  time  turned  his  at 
tention  to  religious  subjects  ;  and  having,  in  1818,  resolved  upon 
entering  the  ministry,  he  commenced  the  study  of  theology. 
Near  the  close  of  1819  he  was  licensed  as  an  evangelist  by  the 
New  England  Convention  of  Universalists.  After  itinerating 
for  several  years,  he  took,  in  1824,  the  pastoral  charge  of  a 
small  parish  in  Westminster,  to  which  place  he  removed.  He 
remained  connected  with  this  religious  denomination  until  elect 
ed  to  Congress  in  1841.  He  has  been  twice  married. 

About  the  time  he  entered  the  ministry,  the  Reverend  Hosea 
Ballou,  of  Boston,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  prominent  mem 
bers  of  the  Convention,  came  out  with  a  denial  of  the  doctrine 
of  retribution  beyond  death,  which  doctrine  had  always,  up  to 
556 


CHARLES   HUDSON.  557 

that  time,  been  held  by  the  Universalists.  "With  this  new  doc 
trine  Mr.  Hudson  had  no  fellowship.  After  full  examination, 
he  wrote  several  articles,  which  appeared  in  the  periodicals  of 
the  day;  and  in  1827  he  published  "a  series  of  letters,  ad 
dressed  to  the  Reverend  Hosea  Ballou,  being  a  vindication  of 
the  doctrine  of  future  retribution  against  the  principal  argu 
ments  used  by  him,  Mr.  Balfour,  and  others."  This  work  pro 
duced  much  sensation  in  the  denomination,  and,  in  the  year  fol 
lowing,  drew  forth  an  answer  from  Mr.  Balfour,  of  Charlestown, 
Massachusetts,  a  Scotch  clergyman,  who  had,  about  that  time, 
become  a  convert  to  the  doctrine  of  no  future  punishment,  which 
he  defended  on  the  ground  of  the  materiality  of  the  soul.  To 
this  Mr.  Hudson  replied.  The  controversy  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  a  separation  of  the  Universalists,  and  the  form 
ation  of  a  new  religious  denomination,  called  the  "  Restoration- 
ists,"  which  was  founded  in  1831  by  himself  and  eight  or  ten 
other  clergymen. 

He  has  always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  Sabbath-school  in 
struction,  and  has  published  a  series  of  text-books  for  those 
schools.  He  also  commenced  a  series  of  sacred  memoirs,  being 
a  history  of  the  Scripture  characters.  His  first  volume  cover 
ed  the  period  from  Adam  to  Joseph  inclusive,  and  the  second 
was  confined  to  a  history  of  Moses  and  the  Jewish  nation  dur 
ing  that  period.  These  works  were  favorably  noticed  by  the 
periodicals  of  the  time.  In  1828  he  was  elected  from  the  town 
of  Westminster  to  the  Lower  House  of  the  Massachusetts  Leg 
islature,  where  he  remained  four  years,  when  he  was  chosen  to 
the  Senate  from  the  county  of  Worcester.  To  this  office  he 
was  returned  for  six  years  in  succession.  He  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  Committee  on  Internal  Improvements ;  that  place 
he  held  during  the  whole  period  of  six  years,  within  which  was 
established  the  system  of  internal  improvements  for  which 
Massachusetts  is  now  so  distinguished.  He  also  made,  in  the 
course  of  this  period,  several  reports  on  important  subjects ; 
one,  in  1837,  on  capital  punishment ;  one,  in  1838,  on  the  in- 
competency  of  witnesses  on  account  of  religious  belief;  and  an 
other  on  the  northeastern  boundary,  which  received  some  share 
of  public  attention. 

In  1837  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Board  of  Education  for 
his  state,  which  office  he  retained  for  eight  years ;  and  he  was 


558  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

for  two  years  chosen  a  state  director  of  the  Western  Rail-road 
(from  Boston  to  Albany).  In  1839,  40,  and  41,  he  was  cho 
sen  by  the  Legislature  as  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council 
of  Massachusetts,  where  he  remained  until  shortly  before  the 
extra  session  of  1841,  when  he  was  elected  to  Congress  from 
the  fifth  district,  to  fill  the  vacancy  created  by  the  resignation 
of  Governor  Lincoln.  Since  then  he  has  continued  to  hold  his 
seat.  In  the  twenty-seventh  Congress  he  made  two  or  three 
reports  from  the  Committee  on  Public  Expenditures,  and  in 
the  twenty-eighth  Congress  one  from  the  Committee  on  Man 
ufactures,  against  any  alteration  of  the  tariff  of  1842. 

He  is  a  man  of  large  and  powerful  frame,  and  of  dark  com 
plexion;  has  short  black  hair,  slightly  sprinkled  with  gray, 
and  looks  as  if  he  might  have  been  cast  in  a  mold  of  iron.  In 
debate  he  is  calm  and  unruffled — always  parliamentary — and 
in  his  manner  exhibits  something  of  that  peculiar  style  of  elo 
cution  indicative  of  his  original  ecclesiastical  calling.  The 
House  never  refuses  to  give  him  its  attentive  ear. 

He  holds  a  prominent  place  in  the  Whig  ranks,  and  is  zeal 
ous  in  support  of  Whig  doctrines.  He  has  rendered  himself 
conspicuous  by  his  ardent  advocacy  of  the  doctrine  of  protection 
to  American  manufactures ;  for  many  years  past  it  has  boasted 
no  abler  champion  in  the  popular  body.  His  speech  upon  the 
British  Corn  Laws,  and  their  effect  upon  the  commerce  of  our 
own  country,  is  regarded  as  among  the  most  powerful  argu 
ments  on  his  side  of  the  question. 

As  an  advocate  of  the  right  of  petition  he  has  scarcely  been 
less  prominent.  Asserting  the  constitutional  power  of  Congress 
to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  believing, 
also,  in  the  expediency  of  its  exercise,  he  has  at  all  times  main 
tained  and  defended  the  unrestricted  right  of  petition  in  relation 
to  abolition  petitions ;  a  right  which,  he  contends,  existed  pre 
vious  to  the  Constitution ;  which  is  incident  to  all  free  govern 
ments  and  to  all  free  institutions  ;  which  was  not  created  or 
granted  by  the  Constitution,  but  is  recognized  in  that  instru 
ment  as  a  right  which  the  people  already  possessed,  and  which, 
it  was  expressly  provided,  should  never  be  infringed. 

He  opposed  from  the  outset  the  annexation  of  Texas,  as  the 
basis  of  a  scheme  to  extend  and  strengthen  the  system  of  slave 
ry  ;  as  a  violation  of  our  national  faith  pledged  to  Mexico ;  as 


CHARLES   HUDSON.  559 

tending  to  involve  the  nation  in  a  war  with  that  sister  repub 
lic  ;  as  a  gross  violation  of  treaty-stipulations ;  as  calculated  to 
burden  us  with  an  enormous  debt ;  as  violating  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  and  as  tending  to  sow  the  seeds  of 
discontent  and  alienation  among  us,  and  thus  to  do  more  than 
all  other  causes  put  together  to  jeopard  the  peace  and  endan 
ger  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  By  no  member  of  either  house 
were  the  results  which  have  followed  that  act  more  strongly 
foreshadowed.  "  This  power  of  acquiring  territory,"  says  he, 
as  early  as  January,  1845,  "  is  exceedingly  dangerous.  If  we 
are  to  construe  the  Constitution  so  as  to  give  us  unlimited  pow 
er  of  acquisition,  where  is  this  spirit  of  aggrandizement  to  stop  ? 
If  we  acquire  Texas,  we  may  acquire  Mexico.  If  this  spirit  is 
tolerated,  it  will  prove  in  our  case,  as  it  has  in  all  others,  the 
bane  of  empire." 

He  voted  against  the  Mexican  War  Bill,  and  has  voted  against 
all  appropriations,  as  such,  from  that  day  to  this.  While  he 
has  not  justified  the  course  of  Mexico,  nor  believed  it  free  from 
cause  of  reproach  or  censure  subsequent  to  the  treaty  of  1843, 
yet  he  believes  that  the  war  was  commenced  by  the  President 
without  just  cause,  and  in  direct  violation  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Constitution,  and  that  we  were  the  aggressors. 
He  believes  the  preamble  of  the  bill  [see  title,  ROBERT  C.  WIN- 
THROP]  to  be  false  as  a  whole,  and  false  in  each  of  its  recitals. 
Speaking  of  the  war  toward  the  close  of  the  last  session,  he  says : 

"  I  fear  that  thirst  for  dominion  will  overcome  our  love  of  justice  ;  that  a  false 
sense  of  honor  will  lead  us  on  in  the  work  of  human  butchery,  and  that  our  young 
men,  by  tens  of  thousands,  are  yet  to  perish  in  '  the  high  places  of  the  field,'  to 
gratify  the  mad  ambition  of  a  weak  and  wicked  administration.  For  one,  I  will 
wash  my  hands  of  '  blood  unprofitably  shed,'  and  do  all  in  my  power  to  avert  the 
awful  calamity  which  the  prosecution  of  an  unrighteous  war  may  bring  upon  the 
nation.  If  Jefferson  in  his  day  was  compelled  to  say,  in  view  of  the  existence  of 
slavery,  '  I  tremble  for  my  country  when  I  reflect  that  God  is  just,'  what  must  be 
the  apprehension  of  the  Christian  statesman  when  he  contemplates  this  great  re 
public,  boasting  of  its  freedom,  exerting  its  powers  to  dismember  a  free  republic 
in  order  to  extend  slavery  over  a  territory  now  free — a  territory  as  large  as  the 
old  thirteen  states?" 

And,  speaking  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  he  says : 

"  We  see  in  the  case  before  us  a  fruitful  source  of  discord.  The  war  was  com 
menced  for  the  conquest  of  territory  to  convert  into  slave  states.  The  most  that 
the  administration  desire,  in  the  first  instance,  is  to  acquire  the  territory.  The 
South  declare  upon  this  floor,  that  if  territory  is  acquired,  it  must  be  slave  territo 
ry  ;  that  they  will  not  submit  to  be  surrounded  by  a  cordon  of  free  states.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  North  have  resolved,  and  firmly  resolved,  that  not  another 


560  HISTORY  OF   CONGRESS. 

foot  of  slave  territory  shall  be  added  to  the  Union.  Here,  then,  an  issue  is  direct 
ly  made,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  North  will  be  found  true  to  her  princi 
ples  when  the  day  of  trial  comes.  You  may  flatter  yourselves  with  the  prospect 
of  buying  up  Northern  votes ;  you  may  find  men  here  who  will  betray  their  friends 
and  attempt  to  commit  their  constituents;  but  when  they  return  to  their  homes 
and  submit  their  claims  to  their  constituents,  they  will  find  an  indignant  and  be 
trayed  people  ready  to  give  them  the  traitor's  due.  I  should  like  to  know  whether 
the  honest  yeomanry  of  Pennsylvania  will  allow  their  representatives  on  this  floor 
to  disregard  their  feelings  with  impunity,  and  trample  the  resolves  of  their  Legis 
lature  in  the  dust  ? 

"  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  the  North  will  stand  firm.  You  can  not  judge 
of  the  present  by  the  past.  Within  two  years  there  has  been  a  radical  change  in 
public  sentiment  in  the  free  states.  The  Texas  outrage,  followed  by  this  iniquit 
ous  war,  both  for  the  extension  of  slavery,  has  brought  the  people  to  their  senses. 
From  the  State  of  Maine,  from  the  granite  hills  of  New  Hampshire,  from  united 
New  England,  the  word  has  gone  forth,  and  the  glorious  response  from  New  York, 
from  Pennsylvania,  from  Ohio,  leaves  no  doubt  on  the  subject  of  public  feeling. 
The  sentiment  is  deep-rooted ;  it  is  a  strong  religious  conviction  that  slavery  is  a 
curse,  and  is  at  war  with  the  best  interests  of  our  country  and  of  humanity.  A 
great  moral  revolution  has  commenced,  and  such  revolutions  can  never  go  back 
ward.  They  have  seen  this  administration  breaking  through  the  barriers  of  the 
Constitution  to  sustain  and  extend  slavery,  and  the  people  in  the  free  states  have 
resolved  that  the  evil  shall  extend  no  further.  I  say  to  the  South,  in  all  frankness, 
you  will  find  Northern  sentiment  immovable  on  this  subject — '  as  firm  as  Nature, 
and  as  fixed  as  Fate ;'  and  I  will  say  to  those  Democrats  of  the  North  who  are 
fawning  around  this  weak  administration,  and  betraying  Northern  interests,  that 
they  may  pick  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  the  executive  table,  '  You  are  treasur 
ing  up  for  yourselves  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.'  You  may  league  all  your 
forces  with  those  of  the  President;  you  may  give  him  all  the  aid  in  your  power 
in  the  prosecution  of  this  war  of  conquest,  that  the  free  territory  of  Mexico  may 
be  brought  into  this  Union  to  increase  the  slave  power ;  but  your  labor  will  be 
fruitless.  You  may  at  this  time  meet  with  partial  success ;  you  may  vote  down 
the  anti-slavery  proviso,  but  it  will  rise  again,  and  haunt  you  like  the  ghost  of  Ban- 
quo.  Another  Congress  will  be  here  before  this  subject  can  be  finally  disposed 
of,  and,  being  more  fresh  from  the  people  than  yourselves,  they  will  speak  a  dif 
ferent  language.  You  may  attempt  another  compromise  with  slavery,  but  the 
people  will  discard  it.  You  may  make  a  covenant  with  that  institution,  and  bind 
yourselves  to  its  support;  but  I  tell  you,  in  the  strong  language  of  the  Hebrew 
prophet,  '  Your  covenant  with  Death  shall  be  disannulled ;  your  agreement  with 
Hell  shall  not  stand :  when  the  overflowing  scourge  shall  pass  through,  then  ye 
shall  be  trodden  down  by  it.' " 

Mr.  Hudson  claims  for  himself,  with  great  justice,  the  virtue 
of  industry  in  every  station  he  has  filled  in  life.  He  has  al 
ways  labored  more  or  less  on  a  farm,  and  now,  in  the  vacation, 
devotes  his  time  to  agricultural  pursuits. 


DUER,    WILLIAM, 


IS  a  new  member.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York 
on  the  25th  of  May,  1805.  He  is  the  son  of  John  Duer,  of 
that  city,  and  Anne  Duer,  whose  maiden  name  was  Bunner, 
and  who  was  the  sister  of  the  late  Rudolph  Bunner,  of  Oswe- 
go.  John  Duer,  known  as  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  is  the  son  of  William  Duer,  an  English 
man  by  birth,  who  emigrated  to  this  country,  and  married 
Catharine,  the  daughter  of  General  William  Alexander,  com 
monly  called  Lord  Sterling.  William  Duer,  the  grandfather 
of  the  member,  was  a  colonel  in  the  American  army  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  He  was  for  some  time  chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Safety  in  this  state,  a  body  which  at  that  period 
exercised  all  the  powers  of  government.  He  also  represented 
this  state  in  several  Congresses.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a 
man  of  brilliant  talents  and  great  eloquence.  At  the  time 
when  a  certain  intrigue  was  on  foot  to  supersede  Washington 
in  the  command  of  the  army,  this  gentleman,  being  sick  in  bed, 
caused  himself  to  be  carried  to  the  House,  that  he  might  vote 
against  the  proposition  for  that  purpose. 

William  Duer,  the  present  member,  graduated  at  Columbia 
College  in  August,  1824.  He  delivered  the  valedictory  oration 
at  this  Commencement. 

He  then  studied  law,  and  in  1828,  immediately  after  his 
admission  to  the  bar,  removed  from  the  city  of  New  York  to 
Oswego.  After  residing  there  six  or  seven  months,  he  returned 
to  the  city  of  New  York.  In  1830  he  published,  in  conjunc 
tion  with  Elijah  Paine,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  a  work,  in 
octavo  volumes,  on  the  Practice  of  the  Courts  of  Common  Law 
in  the  State  of  New  York. 

VOL.  L— NN  561 


562  HISTORY   OF   CONGRESS. 

In  1832  he  was  a  candidate  for  the  State  Assembly,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  on  the  Adams,  or  National  Republican  tick 
et,  and  was  defeated,  with  the  rest  of  the  ticket,  by  a  large  ma 
jority.  In  January,  1833,  he  removed  from  the  city  of  New 
York  to  New  Orleans.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  he  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar  there,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  the 
law.  In  1835  he  was  married  to  Lucy,  daughter  of  Beverley 
Chew,  of  New  Orleans,  one  of  the  oldest  residents  of  that  city, 
for  many  years  Collector  of  the  Port,  and  afterward  President  of 
the  Canal  Bank.  He  has  three  sons  and  four  daughters  living. 
His  wife  is  his  first  cousin,  her  mother  (now  dead)  having  been 
the  sister  of  John  Duer. 

Shortly  after  his  marriage,  William  Duer  again  removed 
from  New  Orleans  to  Oswego,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where 
he  has  since  resided  and  practiced  his  profession.  In  Novem 
ber,  1839,  he  was  elected,  on  the  Whig  ticket,  by  a  majority 
of  twenty-two,  from  Oswego,  to  the  House  of  Assembly  in  the 
State  Legislature,  which  commenced  its  session  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1840.  Some  months  previous  to  the  session  of  this 
Legislature,  it  is  known  that  serious  difficulties  had  arisen  be 
tween  the  landlord  and  tenants  of  that  part  of  the  manor  of 
Rensselaerwick  situated  in  the  county  of  Albany.  The  execu 
tion  of  the  process  of  the  law  was  forcibly  resisted ;  the  tenants 
collected  together  in  large  numbers,  and  matters  assumed  an 
aspect  so  threatening  that  the  governor  was  compelled  to  call 
out  a  military  force.  The  disturbances  were  then  quieted 
without  bloodshed. 

The  governor,  in  his  message,  after  giving  a  brief  history  of 
the  disturbances,  took  occasion  to  speak  of  the  tenures  existing 
in  the  manor  of  Rensselaerwick,  which  he  strongly  condemned, 
and  recommended  the  adoption  of  some  measure  which  should 
"  assimilate  the  tenures  in  question  to  those  which  experience 
had  proved  to  be  more  accordant  with  the  principles  of  repub 
lican  government." 

This  portion  of  the  governor's  message,  together  with  nu 
merous  petitions  from  the  tenants,  was  referred  to  a  select  com 
mittee,  of  which  Mr.  Duer  was  chairman.  This  committee,  on 
the  23d  of  March,  1840,  made  a  report  at  length,  through  their 
chairman,  its  author.  The  specific  relief  sought  by  the  tenants 
consisted  in  the  abolition  of  certain  remedies  for  the  collection 


WILLIAM   DUER.  563 

of  rent,  not  generally,  but  where  tenures  of  the  description  re 
ferred  to  existed,  while  it  was  not  proposed  to  substitute  any 
other  remedies  in  place  of  those  abolished.  Against  this  prop 
osition  the  committee  reported  as  contrary  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  as  unjust,  inasmuch  as  its  effect  would 
be  greatly  to  impair  the  value  of  the  landlord's  property,  with 
out  making  him  any  compensation.  They  took  the  ground 
that  no  change  should  be  made  in  the  tenures,  unless  upon  ad 
equate  compensation  by  the  tenants  to  the  landlord.  But  they 
expressed  the  opinion  that  if  it  were  made  to  appear  that  the 
public  good  clearly  required  such  change,  the  Legislature  was 
not  destitute  of  power  to  make  it  upon  just  compensation  being 
allowed  to  the  landlord.  They  did  not,  however,  recommend 
any  such  action  on  the  ground  that  the  exercise  of  such  power, 
if  the  Legislature  possessed  it,  was  "  a  matter  of  great  delicacy, 
and  not  to  be  resorted  to  unless  in  a  case  of  necessity."  They 
recommended  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  inquire  into 
and  report  a  state  of  facts  to  the  next  Legislature,  and  also  to 
endeavor  to  effect  a  compromise  between  the  landlord  and  ten 
ants.  A  bill  for  this  purpose  was  passed  by  the  Legislature. 
The  report  will  be  found  in  the  sixth  volume  of  Assembly  Doc 
uments  for  1840,  No.  271.  The  subject  afterward  acquired  ad 
ditional  interest  in  consequence  of  the  extension  of  these  diffi 
culties  to  other  counties. 

We  have  entered  with  some  minuteness  into  these  facts,  be 
cause  the  report  to  which  we  have  referred  was  subsequently 
made  the  subject  of  criticisms  believed  by  its  author  to  be  un 
just  and  unfair,  it  having  been  represented  that  the  committee 
had  recommended  that  the  state  should  lease  and  sell  the  do 
main  of  the  landlords,  and  thus  raise  a  fund  to  be  devoted  to 
internal  improvement,  or  other  purposes.  A  statement  to  this 
effect,  made  by  Colonel  Young  in  the  Senate,  drew  forth  a  re 
ply  from  Mr.  Duer,  which  was  published  in  the  Albany  Evening 
Journal  somewhere  in  January,  1846. 

In  1840  Mr.  Duer  was  again  elected  to  the  Legislature.  In 
the  ensuing  session  he  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  Commit 
tee  on  Literature.  As  a  member  of  that  committee,  he  exerted 
himself,  among  other  things,  in  favor  of  the  passage  of  a  resolu 
tion  for  the  printing  of  the  Journals  of  the  New  York  Provin 
cial  Legislature,  and  Convention,  and  Committee  of  Safety,  from 


564  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

1775  to  1777.  This  work  has  since  been  published.  He  also 
reported  bills,  which  were  passed,  making  liberal  provision  for 
the  asylums  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  for  the  blind,  in  the  city 
of  New  York.  He  also  reported  a  long  and  important  bill,  mak 
ing  extensive  changes  in  the  laws  respecting  common  schools. 
This  bill,  as  originally  reported,  was  almost  exclusively  the 
work  of  John  C.  Spencer,  then  Secretary  of  State  and  Superin 
tendent  of  Common  Schools,  and  the  labors  of  Mr.  Duer  were 
mainly  confined  to  explaining  and  defending  it  on  the  floor  of 
the  House. 

At  the  same  session,  an  application  was  made  by  the  North 
River  Bank  for  a  renewal  of  its  charter.  This  Mr.  Duer  op 
posed,  as  leading  to  a  renewal  of  the  system  of  chartered  bank 
ing  under  the  safety-fund  institution,  which  he  believed  injuri 
ous  in  its  effects  not  only  on  the  currency,  but  on  the  charac 
ter  of  the  Legislature.  He  had  confidence,  however,  in  the 
free  banking  system  under  the  law  of  1838.  The  application 
of  the  bank  failed  by  a  few  votes.  The  bank,  being  a  sound 
one,  has  since  organized  under  the  general  banking  law,  and  is, 
we  have  reason  to  believe,  well  satisfied  with  the  change. 

The  case  of  Alexander  M^Leod,  charged  with  the  murder 
of  an  American  citizen  at  Schlosser,  excited  great  interest  at 
this  time.  Mr.  Hoffman  moved  that  the  Committee  on  the  Ju 
diciary  be  instructed  to  report  a  bill  providing  that  a  nolle  pros- 
equi  be  entered,  M'Leod  being  then  under  indictment  and  in 
prison.  This  brought  up  the  interesting  and  important  ques 
tion,  which  has  since  been  so  ably  discussed,  whether  or  not 
the  burning  of  the  Caroline  was  an  act  of  war,  and  the  parties 
concerned  in  it  were  consequently  to  be  treated  as  soldiers,  their 
government  only  being  responsible.  Mr.  Duer  took  the  ground 
that  this  was  a  question  which  ought  to  be  judicially  determin 
ed  ;  and  that  the  dignity  of  the  state,  as  well  as  considerations 
connected  with  the  peace  of  the  frontier,  required  that  it  should 
not  be  thus  summarily  disposed  of.  It  is  well  known  that 
M'Leod  was  tried  and  acquitted. 

Mr.  Duer  also  brought  forward  a  proposition,  making  the 
ability  to  read  the  English  language  the  sole  qualification  of 
an  elector,  with  the  exception  of  age  and  residence.  He  was 
prevented  by  severe  illness,  at  the  latter  part  of  the  session  from 
urging  this  measure  as  he  had  desired  and  intended 


WILLIAM   DUER.  565 

In  1842  he  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  Congress  in  the  dis 
trict  of  Oswego  and  Madison,  but  was  defeated.  In  1844  he 
was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Convention  that  nominated 
Henry  Clay  and  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  for  President  and 
Vice-President.  In  the  spring  of  1846  he  was  a  candidate  for 
the  Convention  to  amend  the  State  Constitution,  and  was  de 
feated  by  about  ninety  votes.  For  several  years  he  held  the 
office  of  district  attorney  for  Oswego  county,  and  in  the  fall 
of  1846  was  nominated  and  elected,  on  the  Whig  ticket,  to 
represent  in  Congress  the  twenty-third  Congressional  District 
of  New  York. 

In  person  Mr.  Duer  is  about  five  feet  ten  and  a  half  inches; 
high,  of  a  strong  mold,  with  dark  hair,  and  of  dark  complexion. 


ABBOTT,   AMOS, 


? T  AS  born  at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  where  he  now  re 
sides,  on  the  10th  of  September,  1786.  He  is  a  direct  lineal 
descendant  of  the  family  of  George  Abbott,  one  of  the  first  set 
tlers  of  that  ancient  town,  who  emigrated  from  Hampshire,  En 
gland,  about  the  year  1640.  He  was  educated  at  the  district 
school  while  living  at  home  on  his  father's  farm.  A  severe  sick 
ness  in  early  life  impaired  his  constitution  so  materially  that  it 
never  wholly  recovered  from  the  shock.  This  circumstance  ad 
monished  him  of  the  necessity  of  directing  his  attention  to  some 
pursuit  in  life  imposing  less  physical  labor  than  that  of  farming. 
He  attended  for  some  time  the  academy  at  Bradford,  in  Essex 
county,  and  subsequently  became  a  trader  and  merchant,  in 
which  business  he  continued  until  within  a  few  years  past.  An 
interesting  genealogical  register  of  this  ancient  family,  compil 
ed  by  the  Reverend  Abiel  Abbot  and  the  Reverend  Ephraim 
Abbott,  has  been  recently  published  by  Munroe  and  Company, 
of  Boston. 

He  always  engaged  more  or  less  in  town  affairs,  and  has  been 
director,  trustee,  and  president  of  various  business,  moneyed, 
and  literary  institutions.  He  has  never  ceased  to  take  partic 
ular  interest  in  the  cause  of  education.  In  1835  he  was  elect 
ed  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and  from  that  time  un 
til  1844  he  continued  a  member  of  one  or  the  other  branch  of 
that  body.  During  three  years  of  this  time  he  represented  the 
county  of  Essex  in  the  Senate. 

Though  taking  an  active  part  in  public  matters  generally, 
he  took  special  interest,  while  a  member  of  the  Senate,  in  the 
public  charities  of  the  commonwealth.     As  chairman  of  the 
566 


AMOS   ABBOTT.  567 

Committee  on  Public  and  Charitable  Institutions,  he  introduc 
ed  and  advocated  some  important  improvements,  and  exerted 
all  his  influence  toward  the  promotion  of  the  great  cause  of 
Christian  benevolence.  He  took  a  deep  interest,  also,  in  the 
cause  of  internal  improvements — as  to  rail-roads  especially. 
Throughout  the  whole  of  his  legislative  career  he  supported 
with  zeal  the  earliest  as  well  as  the  later  projects  which  have 
been  the  means  of  intersecting  the  state  in  every  direction  with 
iron  pathways,  and  giving  a  lasting  impetus  to  her  material  pros 
perity.  He  was  one  of  the  first  board  of  directors  of  one  of  the 
earliest  roads,  now  become  one  of  the  principal  routes  in  the 
country — the  Boston  and  Maine  Rail-road.  He  continued  a 
member  of  the  board  for  many  years.  This  project,  in  fact,  was 
started  by  himself  and  two  or  three  other  gentlemen,  was  push 
ed  through  at  much  private  risk  and  labor,  and  after  a  great 
struggle. 

In  1844  he  was  elected  by  the  Whig  party  to  represent,  in 
the  twenty-eighth  Congress,  the  third  Congressional  district  of 
Massachusetts.  His  immediate  predecessor  was  Brigadier- 
general  Caleb  Gushing.  The  district  is  composed  of  parts  of 
the  counties  of  Essex  and  Middlesex,  and  contains  within  its 
limits  the  large  and  populous  towns  of  Newburyport,  Haverhill, 
and  Andover,  the  city  of  Lowell,  and  the  new  manufacturing 
town  of  Lawrence,  &c.  He  was  re-elected  a  member  of  the 
twenty-ninth,  and  subsequently  of  the  thirtieth  Congress. 

His  appearance  is  that  of  a  plain,  unostentatious  gentleman, 
in  the  autumn — not  yet  in  the  winter — of  life.  His  manners 
are  quiet  and  unobtrusive,  and  he  is  known  more  by  his  votes 
and  his  close  attention  to  his  public  duties  than  by  his  speeches. 
We  have,  indeed,  no  recollection  of  having  heard  him  make 
what  is  known  as  a  set  speech,  but  he  offers  his  views  occa 
sionally,  briefly  and  off-hand,  on  different  topics  as  they  present 
themselves.  He  manifests  a  deep  interest  in  all  measures  of  a 
national  character,  and  more  especially  those  of  Whig  policy. 
From  early  life  he  has  been  firmly  and  uniformly  attached  to 
the  conservative  school  of  politics.  He  is  not  a  politician  by 
profession  or  natural  inclination,  his  habits  leading  him  rather 
to  seek  retirement,  and  to  avoid  the  confusion  and  strife  of  a 
public  career.  And  it  has  been  his  constant  aim  to  make  his 
political  conduct  a  matter  of  moral  duty. 


f568  HISTORY   OF    CONGRESS. 

He  was  married  in  1812  to  Esther  West,  of  Salem,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  has  three  sons  and  six  daughters  living.  He  has 
been  a  professor  of  religion  for  thirty  years,  and  during  two 
thirds  of  that  time  an  officer  in  the  Congregational  Church. 


END     OF     VOL.    I. 


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